Finding Full-Text Online

1. What is meant by "full-text"?
2. Why would I need full-text?
3. How can I find a full-text database that covers journals in my subject area?
4. If a database includes full-text, does that mean I can perform a keyword search on full-text?
5. I already have a list of articles that I need. How can I find out if they are available in full-text online?
6. What about other materials such as conference proceedings, reports, or working papers?
7. How do I cite the material that I found in a full-text database?
   
   

1. What is meant by full-text?

Traditionally, periodical indexes contained only citations to articles in magazines, journals, and newspapers. Occasionally, you would find an abstract or summary of the article, but in order to get a copy of the full article you would need come to the Library. In the last few years many of the major indexing services have started including the full-text of articles in their indexes (or online databases). The full-text may be "text only," or it may be a scanned image of the article as it appeared in the journal. Please note, however, that there are still many publications that do not make their articles available online in full-text and that it is necessary to access the print versions of these articles either in the Syracuse University or ESF Libraries or through interlibrary loan.

2. Why would I need full-text?

There are many reasons why library users look for full-text resources online. These include:

• convenience (to access the article without coming to the library)
• distance (you are a distance education student and you live too far away to come to the library)
• access (the library doesn't subscribe to the journal you need)
• searchability (full-text online means full-text searchability)

No matter what the reason, you will probably be looking for the full-text of an article, report, conference paper, or other material online sometime during your career at SU. This page attempts to give you some strategies for coping with the enormous amount of information available in full-text through library databases and out on the Web.

3. How can I find a full-text article database?

To get to a few databases that include some full text, use the list at Research Starting Points, Find Articles by Subject.  You may want to use databases that go more in depth on a particular subject as you get farther in your research.  You may be able to find full text online even if the full text is not available in the database where you first find a citation you want (see #5).

4. If a database includes full-text, does that mean I can perform a keyword search of all the text?

Most of the time, yes, but you should know that full-text searching is not always the default search type. Look for an advanced searching option or consult the help screens once you are in the database. Also keep in mind that keyword searching of full-text databases can be tricky.

5. I have a list of articles that I need. How can I find out which are available in full-text online?

Go to the E-journal Locator, and conduct a journal title search using part of or all of the title of the publication in which the article is found (e.g., journal, newspaper, magazines, etc.). Please do not type the title of the article at this point.  There are many citation styles; however, you can often identify the publication title because it contains the word "Journal" or it is in italics or underlined. The article title is often in quotation marks. The article title tends to be longer than the publication title, but not always.

This will lead you to a listing of online databases that include full-text articles from the publication in which your article is located. The dates included for each database are listed.  Look at your citation to see if the date of your article is included in one or more of the databases.

Connect to one of the databases by clicking on the link (e.g., Lexis-Nexis Academic). Once you are on the database page, follow the database's instructions for searching for a particular article within a specific publication. In some cases, this will involve an advanced search.

6. What about other types of materials, such as conference proceedings, reports, papers, etc.?

There a few online databases that currently contain full-text of conference proceedings, such as CIAO, IEEE Explore, and International Index to the Performing Arts Full Text. If the material you need is not found in these databases but is from a recent conference (within the last three years or so), you may be able to find conference papers on the Web. Try using a Web directory or search engine such as Yahoo or Google to find the conference website.

Reports, working papers, and other "hard to find" items are not usually included in Library databases. There are a few exceptions, however, including:

• AccessUN - for United Nations reports
• Lexis-Nexis Congressional - for US committee reports and other documents
• Lexis-Nexis Statistical - for statistical information from the Congressional Information Service, Inc.

7. How do I cite the material that I found in a full-text database?

Refer to the Library's Citation Style Guides page for links to APA, MLA, and other formats for citing electronic information.