Tutorial: Finding Articles

Direct Links from an Index

One way to get to journals is directly from your index citation. Many indexes go beyond providing a basic citation and an abstract - they connect you to the article when they can.

• Some indexes link to the full text of the article within the same index.
  • Academic Search Elite & CBCA are examples of aggregator databases that include some full text articles.
     
• Some indexes link to the full text of the article in another database.
  • Example: the Web of Science doesn't contain any full text articles, but it does link to articles available on the Springer, Wiley, PLoS, and Elsevier ejournal sites.
  • For this to work, the index needs to know which databases our Library subscribes to.  Usually these links are effective, but sometimes they just don't communicate well with the other databases.
     
• Some indexes are actually a group of e-journals with a search engine, so that everything they find has a direct link.
  • In these indexes, you can view a table of contents for a specific issue of a journal, or you can search the whole group by keyword.
  • Examples are the Elsevier journals, Wiley journals, Springer journals, JSTOR, and MUSE sites.
     
• Omni links to any articles available through the Trent Library and indicates "Available Online".
  • Note that if you limit your search to "Trent Library" you will ONLY find articles available in full text. If you expand it "Beyond Trent", you'll see articles that must be requested through Interlibrary Loan.

If you see a link to the full article somewhere in the citation; click on it to access the article.  That's probably the quickest, easiest way. 

Links to Get It! Trent in an Index

If there is no direct link to an online article within the citation, use   to find our online journals.  Almost all our indexes have this icon link in each citation.  Use it to connect with our full text providers to get the article you need.

The Trent Library subscribes to over 30,000 online journals. Access to these journals can sometimes be confusing, because of who owns the information.

• Our Library purchases the right to access the journals from a variety of data providers (aka publishers, vendors) for a period of time.
• The providers load the journals on their sites and provide searching and display software (the interface) to access them.
• The rights to a particular journal can change over time, so we may get some volumes from one provider and others from another.
• Sometimes we have access to the same journal from more than one site because multiple providers own the rights.
• Our agreements with providers require us to restrict access to current Trent students, faculty, and staff only.

It's not easy to know where to access a specific issue of a particular journal. That's why we maintain a database service for e-resources - called "Get it! Trent".

is a bridge between indexes and our Library holdings.

• When you find a citation in an index, look for a Get it! Trent icon
• Get It! Trent searches all our online journals for the article you need.
• This is our most dependable link to online articles for which we have purchased access rights.
   

presents a menu of choices for accessing the article.

• It knows where we have access and provides a direct link as close to the article as possible.
• Click on a link to get the article.
• If we don't have the article online, it prompts you to check the Library Catalogue for a print version (on our shelves).
• See the image of the menu (below).
   

The Get It! Trent menu shows:

• article information at the top of the screen
• "Is there a copy at Trent?", followed by links to providers' sites where it's available
• other options, such as search the Library Catalogue for print or other database searches

Omni Links to the Journal OR to the Article

Find the Journal Through Omni

Use the "Journal Search" option in Omni to find the journal - by title.  Screenshot:

When you find the journal, you can:

• "Search inside" to search journal contents,
  • This stays in Omni and shows you articles within the journal that match your search criteria.
• "View Online" to link directly to the journal on its homepage,or
• click the pin to save this journal to your "favourites", so you can easily return to it later.

View Online

The journal could be available from different providers for different dates, so check each link to ensure it covers the date you need.

• Note that in this case, Cambridge University Press has current issues, but JSTOR has early ones. (Neither site has BOTH).
• Click a link to access the journal on that site. 
  • Follow the links to the year, volume, issue, page provided in your citation.
• The look of the journal can be very different from one provider to another, because they use a different interface.

Screenshot of the journal Classical Quarterly:

Find the Article Through Omni

It's very easy to find an article through Omni - just enter the title, a DOI, or an entire citation and search.

Here's a screenshot of a search for:

WRIGHT, MATTHEW. 2007. December. “COMEDY AND THE TROJAN WAR.” The Classical Quarterly 57 2 (December): 412–431. doi:10.1017/S000983880700047X.

I entered the title only, and it's the first item I find.

• I see that it's online, and when I click "Available Online" I'll see the links. Notice that this time I only see two links, because Omni only shows links to the sites that include the issue of the journal containing this article.
• Either link gets me directly to the online article.
• I can also pin this article to my favourites, so it's there when I need it.

Screenshot:

Choices

When an article is available online, you sometimes have a choice between file types: .pdf or .html. Each type has features that you should understand, so that you can choose which you want, based on your needs.

HTML

Accessing Online Library Resources from Off-Campus

Online resources are rarely free; the Trent Library pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for the right to access them.

• The providers implement systems to ensure that only those who pay can access the information provided.
• This is usually done by checking the IP address (a unique number) of the computer being used against a list of valid customers, a process called authentication.
• When Trent subscribes to an online product, we give them a list of IPs for our institution. Anybody using a Trent computer by logging into the network is recognized and given access.
• However, when you try to access the resources from outside the Trent network (off-campus), the provider will not recognize your computer and will not allow you access. For these cases, the Trent Library uses a proxy server, a server set up to authenticate Trent users.

All the links to external resources on our website route you through our proxy server.

• If you're on a Trent computer, it just passes you through.
• But if you're coming from outside the network, the proxy server requires you to authenticate yourself with your myTrent network username and password.
• Once you're confirmed as a Trent user, it passes you along to the provider with a valid Trent IP address that is recognized.
• Your proxy server session lasts for the duration of your browser session. If you close the browser, or if the session times out from lack of use, you need to login to the proxy server again. 
• Bookmarks to your favourite sites or articles won't work with the proxy server. You always need to start at the library website to login. 
• If you are asked by a provider's site to enter a username and password, you have not been proxied correctly. Go back to the Library website and start from there.

The only login screen is Trent's, which looks like this:

Use your myTrent username and password from this point. 

• You should notice that every address you access after that contains "trentu.ca" in it somewhere.  If that disappears, you've lost your proxy and you need to start again. 
• Contact library@trentu.ca if you have problems.

Further Reading