Welcome to the Periodical Abstracts Instruction Module.
Access to Periodical Abstracts is restricted to RIT students, faculty and staff.
Periodical Abstracts offers complete coverage of high-demand sources including a large number of popular magazines. Information covering a wide range of research topics is available from 1,600 periodicals, some of which are peer-reviewed journals. Four major newspapers: the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Barron's provide citations dating back to at least 1990. In this information resource, the option to search by publication title is a unique tool. The database includes a mixture of three kinds of information:
1) Citations, which give you the basic information you need to locate an article, such as the name of the magazine or journal, author, title, date and page number
2) Abstracts, which are summaries of articles
3) Full-text, which is the complete article and may include images or graphics
This module will cover the major points you need to know to use Periodical Abstracts. For in-depth instructions, please use the 'Help Screen' button that is available on most pages of the database.
To connect to Periodical Abstracts, go to the RIT Library homepage at http://wally.rit.edu and select 'Research Databases.'
At the 'RIT Library Online Databases' screen, move to the center scroll bar. Scroll down to 'Periodical Abs w/ full-text (through ProQuest Direct).'
Click on 'Periodical Abs'.
You will see a brief description of the Periodical Abstracts Research II database and the RIT Library logo.
Select 'Click here to connect to Proquest's Periodical Abstracts.'
You will arrive at the 'Select Database' screen. This screen allows you to choose the portions of ProQuest Direct that you wish to search. Throughout the search you will have the choice to change databases as needed. If you select 'Continue' from here without changing anything, all of the databases will be searched simultaneously.
However, this module will deal with Periodical Abstracts Research II only, so we will check that box and click on 'Continue' at the top of the page. The 'Search by word-basic' screen will appear.
We begin by selecting the dates to be searched. From this screen you can choose to search for articles published within recent years or you can choose to search older articles in the 'backfile.'
Another choice on this screen is the full-text checkbox. Be careful this checkbox is NOT, I REPEAT NOT, used to limit your search results to full-text articles. Check this box if you want to search all three parts of each record: the full-text, the abstracts and the titles of articles. Whether you check this or not, you will get a mixture of results including citations, abstracts and full-text documents.
Next are some hints on entering search terms or phrases during a basic search.
Capitalization does not matter: All 3 versions of 'Stephen Hawking' will find the same articles.
Spelling variations and plural forms of words can be included in the search by using two tools known as 'Truncation' and 'Wildcards.'
'Truncation' is the use of the question mark ('?') symbol to search for words containing a common word root. For example, the search term 'operat?' ('o-p-e-r-a-t-?') will find articles containing the words 'operate,' 'operates,' 'operating,' 'operations' and so forth.
A 'Wildcard' symbol is used to search for a specific number of characters or letters, in any combination. Use an asterisk for each undetermined character. For example, typing 'w-o-m-*-n' will find articles containing 'woman' or 'women.'
Two words will be searched as a phrase. For example, searching the phrase 'White House' or the phrase 'flying fish' will guarantee that those words will be searched as a phrase throughout the immediate search session.
If you need to use additional search terms or if you want to narrow your search, click on the 'Advanced' search tab. Here you can create a Boolean search using a preformatted template. Or from the basic search screen, use the automated features provided in the Search Wizard. For more information on Boolean searching, go to our instructional module at http://wally.rit.edu/instruction/dl/dbaseoverview.html.
Remember that you can always choose the 'HELP' button for database assistance from any screen. More search examples are provided there.
After you enter your terms and click on 'search,' the database will return a list of publications that include the words you have entered.
In addition to a word search, there are also other search methods available to you. Use the 'Search for Publication' option at the top of the screen to find a specific issue of a specific magazine, newspaper or journal. If you want to view the entire list of available publications, click on 'List publications.'
To search for a specific publication, enter the complete title of the publication (NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC), a word that is in the title (GEOGRAPHIC), or enter only part of the word, ending it with the truncation symbol (g-e-o-?).
Press 'enter' and select the title you need. A list of available issues will be displayed. Click on the issue you want to see. The available articles are then displayed in alphabetical order.
Another search method available to you is the 'Search by Topic' option. Choose this at the top of the screen to look for information by broad subject category. The subject categories are determined by the database developers. This method lets you enter a topic or browse predefined topic lists. If your term does not find a match, you will get a message referring you back to the 'Search by Word-Basic' screen.
Regardless of the type of search you choose, the outcome will be a list of results. You can mark specific articles for later printing or e-mailing by checking the box to the left of the article title.
Additionally, you can alter your list to include only full-text articles by clicking on the 'View only Full-text link' at the bottom of your results list.
The key that explains the format icons is also found at the bottom of each page of results.
To print a specific article, first click on the article title to display the article. Then click on 'Print Article' and follow the steps as directed.
To e-mail a specific article or the complete list, enter your complete e-mail address in the white space provided above the 'e-mail articles' button. Click on 'E-mail Articles' to mail the text of one article, or the text of all articles in your marked list.
Now you know the basic steps needed to search the Periodical Abstracts Research II database. Give it a try. A few practice searches will help you to remember what you have learned.
If you are an RIT student, faculty or staff member and have questions, contact the RIT Library Reference Desk at 716-475-2563 using voice or TTY.
last update 8/2000
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