NEWSPAPER AND MAGAZINE DATABASES
EVANSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY DATABASES AND YOU!: GENERAL INFO. I. WHAT ARE DATABASES AND WHAT DO THEY DO? Databases are online clearinghouses for past and current newspaper and magazine articles Databases work as a subscription service, so they are not free. Databases do index full-text articles, often in various formats Databases can be subject-specific and focus only on certain topics such as health, business, medicine, etc. II. WHAT DATABASES ARE NOT AND WILL NOT DO Databases are not free Databases are not always full-text (often, one will find a citation rather than an entire article) Most databases usually do not index articles prior to the 1980s III. ACCESSING EVANSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY DATABASES FROM HOME Go to the EPL homepage at www.epl.org Click on the Catalogs & Research link at the center and top of the page Databases (as well as library catalogs) are found throughout this page Click on the desired database (you will then be prompted for your EPL Library Card Number) Enter all 14 digits from the front of your library card without any spaces and click on CONTINUE.
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NEWSPAPER DATABASE #1: ETHNIC NEWS WATCH
What is ETHNIC NEWS WATCH (ENW)? Ethnic News Watch touts itself as an interdisciplinary, bilingual (English/Spanish) database of the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. ENW titles offer additional viewpoints from those proffered by mainstream publications.
I. ETHNIC NEWS WATCH: GENERAL OVERVIEW What’s New – lists latest articles recently added to ENW from different publications Timeline – lists important dates and events affecting minorities in the U.S. and the world since 1990 Publication Information – provides information on the date range, language, and ethnic group of the publications indexed Subject Thesaurus – directs users to alternate and/or synonymous subject terms for searching Search Tips – offers users tips for more thorough searching
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II. ETHNIC NEWS WATCH: PARTICULAR OVERVIEW Provides articles in both English and Spanish Focus is on minority and ethnic press (African-American, Hispanic, Jewish, Native-American, Pacific Islander, to name a few) Includes 260 newspaper, magazine and journal titles Searching option allows users to limit by the following: DATE RANGE, ETHNIC GROUP and ARTICLE TYPE. Article types include SCHOLARLY ARTICLES, REPORTS, AND BIOGRAPHIES.
III. LET’S GO!: SAMPLE SEARCHES IN ENW (FOLLOW DIRECTIONS BELOW) Enter the term WHALING in the box beneath Basic Search In the pull-down menu next to Ethnic Group, select NATIVE PEOPLE Now click on SEARCH How many articles were returned for this search? __________
After initial search results are returned, users can further limit those results to either SCHOLARLY JOURNALS, MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS and REFERENCE/REPORTS. Users can also SORT results by relevancy and date as well. Both of these features are located directly above the first result given. Scroll down to article #8. Give the title of the article and the publication from which it comes. TITLE: ___________________ PUBLICATION: _________________ Open article #8 by clicking on the title or on the Full-Text icon. Notice PRINT and EMAIL features in left hand corner of page.
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IV. OTHER WAYS TO SEARCH ADVANCED SEARCH – allows users to tie together different search terms and offers more limiting options such as language, article type and author. PUBLICATION SEARCH – provides users with the date coverage of a given publication title as well as all the articles from specific issues. V. TEST YOUR SKILLS: SEARCHING ENW AGAIN See if you can complete the searches below using ENW. Be sure to follow the directions exactly. Good luck! Using the Basic Search mode, see if you can find articles that deal with DRESS CODES for women in Arab and Middle Eastern countries. How many articles were you able to find? __________ Were any of the results returned from scholarly journals? How many? __________ What is the date of the most recent article from your results? __________ Using the Advanced Search mode, see if you can find articles that focus on HISPANICS in the BANKING profession. Be sure to limit Ethnic Group to Hispanics. Of the results returned, how many are magazine articles? __________ Of those results, what is the title of the article written by Bridgit McCrea? ____________ Using the Publication Search mode tell whether or not ENW covers the following publications and give the years of coverage for each (if applicable). The Mississippi Link Il Voce del Popolo Italiano Lilith ___Y ___N ___Y ___N ___Y ___N Years covered:_________ Years covered:_________ Years covered:_________
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NEWSPAPER DATABASE #2: AMERICA’S NEWSPAPERS
What is AMERICA’S NEWSPAPERS (AN)? America’s Newspapers is an online newspaper database that indexes full-text articles from nearly 500 U.S. newspapers. Searching capability allows users to search the entire collection at once, all papers from a particular state, or an indvidual paper or combination of papers.
I. AMERICA’S NEWSPAPERS: GENERAL OVERVIEW 472 newspaper titles from papers across the United States Users can limit searches to only specific newspapers – New York Times, Chicago Tribune – or to a combination of papers that they wish Number of newspapers indexed from a given state and their titles and coverage in years is given by clicking on the map of the United States BASIC AND ADVANCED SEARCHING is offered, and users can limit to articles by YEAR, AUTHOR, HEADLINE, NEWSPAPER SECTION AND EDITION, among others
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II. BASIC SEARCHING IN AMERICA’S NEWSPAPERS SAMPLE SEARCH #1: I think I remember reading about this missing DIEGO RIVERA mural that has become something of an urban legend in Mexico. I know that I read this in the Chicago Tribune some time in the last few months. Follow the directions below in order to perform a sample search and hopefully locate the article. First, limit our search to just The Chicago Tribune (on left hand side of screen). Next, we want to return articles from the last six months. Enter “DIEGO RIVERA” in the search box and click on the big, green SEARCH button. How many articles were returned? __________ Do you see the article about the mural anywhere? If so, give the date of the article. __________ Now click on the title of the article to see the complete article. Notice the EMAIL box and the SAVE THIS ARTICLE box.
SAMPLE SEARCH #2: There was this really interesting article a few years back in The New York Times Magazine on farmers in Zimbabwe who were being kicked off of their land. I can’t remember the title, but I’m sure it was from the year 2000 and that the author was Peter Godwin. Using these hints, which are in bold, can you find the title of the article? If you get confused, think of how we performed the first search up above using the Chicago Tribune. When you find the article, click on the title and provide the following information: Title article: _______________
Date of article: _______________ Page of article:_____
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III. ADVANCED SEARCHING IN AMERICA’S NEWSAPAPERS Offers more limiting options for searching. For example, one can limit to HEADLINE, LEAD/FIRST PARAGRAPH, AUTHOR, SECTION, EDITION, CAPTION, etc. Also allows for more specific date limiting Can combine BASIC SEARCH features (such as searching multiple newspapers) with the ADVANCED features
SAMPLE SEARCH #3: Paul Krugman is a widely known economist and commentator on current global affairs. In addition to being a noted author, he also writes for The New York Times. Using ADVANCED SEARCH features, see if you can find how many articles he wrote for The New York Times in April 2004 that deal specifically with Iraq. How many articles were you able to find? _______________ What is the title of the article from April 16, 2004? _______________
MAGAZINE DATABASE #1: INFOTRAC GENERAL REFERENCE CENTER
What is INFOTRAC? INFOTRAC is an excellent resource that indexes millions of articles from a number of different sources. Sources indexed in INFOTRAC include: encyclopedia excerpts, reference book excerpts, newspaper articles, periodicals, and news services. A great starting point for journal articles from a number of different sources!
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I. INFOTRAC: GENERAL OVERVIEW Most, but not all, articles in INFOTRAC will be full-text. Articles may also include images. Some sources in INFOTRAC are indexed back to the 1980s. Searching options include: Subject Guide; Relevance Search; Keyword Search; Advanced Search; and Journal Search. Users are able to limit searches to the following: DATE; FULL-TEXT ARTICLES, AND JOURNAL. Clicking on TITLE LIST (upper left side of screen) or BROWSE (next to where it says “to the following journal) will show what publications are included in the INFOTRAC database. Only TITLE LIST will show dates of coverage. One can also use the JOURNAL SEARCH (left side of screen) for this as well. Often when performing searches, INFOTRAC will break the subject down into subtopics and give you the number of articles next to a particular subtopic.
II. BASIC SEARCHING USING INFOTRAC SAMPLE SEARCH #1: I’m looking for some articles about filmmaker MICHAEL MOORE. Interviews, especially, would be great. Follow the directions below to see what you come up with. Enter the term MICHAEL MOORE in the search box. Click on Search. Assume that MOORE, MICHAEL is the documentary film director. How many results do you see for newspapers _________ and for periodical references __________? Click on NARROW to narrow by subdivision. How many articles do you see next to the subdivision for INTERVIEWS __________? Click on INTERVIEWS. From the list, what is the date of the article entitled “The Little Leftist Rant That Could?” __________. Click on the title of that article to open it. View the article and then scroll down to the bottom of the page.
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SAMPLE SEARCH #2: As part of a project, I need some articles on the late, great singer RAY CHARLES. Tricky part is, I want these articles to be from the year 2004 and to come from the publication Entertainment Weekly. How many articles can you find that meet these requirements? Of the articles returned, who authored Ray Charles’ obituary? _______________ What is the date of this article? _______________
SAMPLE SEARCH #3: For this search, first be sure to click on JOURNAL SEARCH. Using JOURNAL SEARCH, tell whether these publications are indexed and give their years of coverage. Sports Illustrated for Kids Vegetarian Journal International Cycling Teddy Crafts ___Y ___N ___Y ___N ___Y ___N ___Y ___N Years covered:_________ Years covered:_________ Years covered:_________ Years covered:_________
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