Library hints                                                                      Dr. Eldred’s Home Page

 

First of all, do not complain about the library.  It does no good, and probably will increase your frustration.

Secondly, ALWAYS BRING:

◈      Money for copying AND your tower card

◈      A stapler

◈      Paper to write on

◈      Pen or pencil

◈      A list of your current references noting those you have already copied and those you have not.

 

Electronic resources:

   If the library has a journal that is accessible electronically, use a PDF file to print it off.  To do this, look in the little box marked “Links” in the upper right hand part of the page after you have linked to the article on “Get Text”. Click on PDF. Files in PDF contain all of the graphics, figures and tables, whereas html files do not!  A PDF file will also give the actual page numbers of the article.  Reference the article as you would if it was a print copy and not internet source.  No “internet only” journals are permitted.

PsycInfo:

There are numerous tricks to getting information out of Psy Info.

1.   When you first enter PsycInfo, pay attention to the olive green bar at the top beneath the tabs.  Make sure you are in the right area.  For example, if you are trying to find articles related to the one you already have, click on “cited references”.

2.   On an initial keyword search, narrow the fields to “journal articles” and “edited books”.  You can narrow later to “peer-reviewed journals”. You May Not Use Dissertation Abstracts!

3.   Unless you speak and read another language fluently, narrow your articles to English.

4.   Remember the more you narrow your search, the fewer the number of articles.  Be careful not to narrow your fields too much.

5.   The second row of tabs contains “Search history/alerts”.  Although you may combine your search terms initially, it is often best to search separately and then combine them by using the functions under this tab.

6.   Be VERY aware that PsyInfo is not perfect.  It may not find all of an author’s records, and it may not find all of the articles it should. It is however, the best available, and is a significant improvement on the hard copy Psychological Abstracts.

 

PubMed:

The basic search function for PubMed is the same as PsycInfo.  There are some neat features that PsycInfo lacks and vice versa. 

1.   You can click on related links for an article and get another list of articles related in some manner to the article. 

2.   There is also a links button (next to related links) that has several functions depending on the article.  One of them is a “cited by” function that is supposed to list articles which have referenced the article.

3.   If you are going to combine searches, go to “history”.  Each of your searches will be numbered.  Combine these by using the numbers, e.g. “#2 AND #3”.

4.   In general, I find PubMed very useful for medical topics, e.g., medications for various psychopathologies, but it is not as versatile as PsycInfo.  The related articles function, however, is very useful, particularly if you have found an reference on PsycInfo and search it on PubMed.

 

Using Get Text and (other ways to get full text articles):

At the end of many PsycInfo record, there will often be Links to Library Holdings: SJSU Get Text.  This is a terrific way to see if we have the journal in our collection or online, however, it is not always correct.  If it says there is no electronic access, click to see if we have it in the library.  When we own the journal, there may be a link on the journal’s catalog page to an electronic source (even though Get text says we don’t have an electronic source).

PsycArticles is also available for searching directly.  You will find it under "P" in the alphabetical list of databases on the Library's web page. PsycArticles is a database of full text journal articles from APA and a few affiliated organizations. When accessing  it directly under its own name, remember to check the "PsycArticles " box .  Look closely at the resulting searches, and select the search results that are limited to PsycArticles.

Finally, for some mysterious reason, some electronic articles can only be obtained when you are actually using the campus internet system – physically hooked up to campus.  I think I have even had trouble in my office and have had to go to the library to actually get the article on their computers.

If we really don’t have it electronically, try this:

◈   Using Google, enter the entire title of the article.  You may get a hit to some professor’s web site with just the same citation, but you may find the entire article!

◈   If you still cannot find it electronically, use Interlibrary Services to get it for you OR contact Interlibrary Services and ask who has the journal.  Often times nearby Universities have it and you can go get it.  Interlibrary Services can be slow.

If you go to any of Stanford’s libraries, be aware you may be asked for ID and may be limited to the number of times you can use their library.  Recently Stanford’s Lane medical library has not restricted people.  To get there, go onto Stanford’s campus, and follow the signs to the hospital.  You will see two buildings joined by a walkway.  Go under the walkway and the library is back on the right.