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Step 4: Determine if the Library Owns the Journal

A. Make sure you have the complete title of the journal. If all you have is an abbreviation from a print index, look at the front of the index for the abbreviations key. For science databases with abbreviations, check the keys to journal abbreviations (various titles available in Reference) to find the full title of the journal. Otherwise, ask at the Help Desk for help.

B. Select "Find Journals" from the Library home page image of find journals with arrow or image of "Find an Article From a Citation" from the "Research Databases" page.

C. Use image of "Find Journals" image of "Citation Linker" to see if there is full text version of the article available from a CSU database or owned electronic journal. Minimum information necessary is journal name or ISSN; adding date/year enhances search results. If no full text is available, continue with step D, searching the library catalog Sage. (Sage is also an option some of the time: image of search CSU Libraries Catalog (Sage) in Citation Linker after pressing the FindIt@CSU button. The initial Sage search will be by ISSN number, but if that does not find the journal, try the other steps described in Step D.)

Put as much information as you have into the boxes; a useful amount of information to get to an article is the journal title, date, volume, and start page. However, in some cases FindIt@CSU will take you to a journal's page or to a database page and you have to find the article within that journal or database.

Or start by searching Sage (step D).

This is what the Citation Linker, called Find Journals looks like:

image of Find Journals page

D. Select the library catalog (Sage) from the libraies home page and then choose the Journal Title search.

image of Journal Title tab in library catalog

Type in exact title of the journal/magazine and press enter (or Search button).

-->If the Journal search doesn't work, try a Title search, again typing in exact title of journal. After you have done a search in the library catalog you can do different types of searches within the catalog using the drop down menu. Thus you can change the Journal Title search to Title search and not need to retype the name of the magazine, journal, or newspaper: image of drop down Title search in library catalog (Sage).

-->If the search for the title does not work, do a Keyword Search using keywords from the title image of Keyword drop down menu in library catalog:

If the Keyword Search pulls up too many, image of modify search button and change the Material type drop down box near the foot of the page to "Serials": image of material type serials or do another Keyword search and add the word "periodicals" to your search.
For example: image of keyword search for "writing and periodicals"

If the Keyword search does not work AND the journal title contains the name of an organization, do an Author/Title combined search. Do the search from the Keyword search tab (image of start over buttonto get there); change the "Any Field" drop down menus to Author and Title:

image of author/title search

or within a Keyword search as A: author and T: title word. For example:

      image of Keyword search term image of a:(British Ecological Society) and t:(Bulletin)

E. Look for owned issues in the boxed part of the full record. It will show the call number, location, volumes owned, format (print or microform), and if there is a current subscription.

Select to verify the location of the specific volume/years you want . The reason for this is that the same journal could be in more than one of the following places:

  • JOURNAL ROOM (current two years for most journals),
  • MOVEABLE SHELVES (bound volumes),
  • MORGAN (stacks),
  • STORAGE (request volume by pressing Request/Hold // G and following the instructions: your ID number is your student/faculty/staff number; you select your PIN number, but you must remember it),
  • MICROTEXT (Microform collection), and/or
  • REFERENCE, or another Library building such as ATMOS or VET.

Select Latest Received to see what is in the Journal Room:

image of latest received items

image of owned items

Bound volumes:

image of moveable shelves location

CSU journals are arranged in call number order so be sure to write the call number down along with the location of the specific volume you need. Check to see if volumes in MORGAN, MOVEABLE SHELVES, and STORAGE are "AVAILABLE" because they can be checked out. (Checked out volumes will have "DUE 00-00-00.")

To find out if there is an electronic version of the journal or magazine, click on the image of FindIt button in libray catalog button and the image of FindIt@CSU logo at top of FindIt screen page will be displayed. This page shows the same information that filling in the Citation Linker/Find e-Journal page (shown above) finds.

F. See staff at the Help Desk or a College Liaison librarian if having difficulties.

Note: if CSU doesn't own a journal and there is a specific article you need, request the article electronically through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). ILL is done electronically from the Libraries Home Web Page via image of "Interlibrary Loan" link from Libraries' home page and from within the FindIt@CSU Find Journals screens.

Go to Step 5: Locate the Journal Go back to Step 3

How to do Research ||| How to Find Articles

Content: Naomi Lederer