WR 121 Fierman: Find Articles
Video: What are Library Databases and Why do you Need Them?
Reading a Search Results Page from a Library Database
Library databases are great places to find published articles, but the results pages can be confusing, so this video will give you some tips to help you find useful results.
Advanced Google Searching
One of the best features of Google's Advanced Search is the ability to limit your search to the areas of the web where the information is most reliable, such as education sites or government sites. The shortcut for this is to add site:edu or site:gov to your regular Google search.
For example, if you conduct an ordinary Google search for nutritional supplements, most of your top results will be commercial (.com) sites trying to sell you vitamins. If you search for nutritional supplements site:gov , the top results (except for the sponsored ads) will be sites such as the National Institute of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, which are authoritative, unbiased sources that are not trying to sell you anything. If you search for nutritional supplements site:edu, your top results will be from universities providing research on nutritional supplements.
Learn more about Advanced Google Searching from this self-paced tutorial: Google Search Tips.
Reliable news sources
Find current event information from news sources that practice fact-based journalism. Some recommended sources:
- New York TimesAward winning journalism, center-left editorial perspective.
- US Major Dailies This link opens in a new windowFull text newspapers from five U.S. national and regional newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune
- BBCInternational news
- Portland Metro and Oregon Research: NewsPCC guide to finding local news sources.
- Fake NewsPCC guide with tips on avoiding fake news.
Video: Find Articles through the PCC Library
Library Article Databases
- Gale Ebooks (formerly GVRL) This link opens in a new windowGale eBooks has over 200 encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Look here for biology, chemistry, nursing and medicine, sociology, history, education, law, and more.
- MAS Ultra - School Edition This link opens in a new windowFull text for over 500 general interest and current events magazines.
Search these databases to find articles to help you answer your research question. You will find published newspaper, magazine, and academic (scholarly peer-reviewed) journal articles in these databases, but all databases allow you to limit to specific types of articles- so be sure to look around the page!
You can find over 100 additional databases in specific subject areas to search on the Databases A - Z page on the library website.
- Popular Magazines (Gale OneFile) This link opens in a new windowFeatures full text coverage of the top 1,000 most searched magazines across Gale's InfoTrac. Current events, sports, science, health and more.
- SIRS Issues Researcher This link opens in a new windowFull text information on social issues, science, health, history, government, business, and the arts and humanities. Citations include Lexile reading levels. View the SIRS Knowledge Source handout [pdf].
- US Major Dailies This link opens in a new windowFull text newspapers from five U.S. national and regional newspapers: New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and the Chicago Tribune
- General OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new windowGeneral OneFile is a periodical resource with over 6500 full text titles, many dating back as far as 1980. It contains popular, business and professional journals, NPR audio files complete with transcripts, and Fodor's travel guides.
- Newspaper Source This link opens in a new windowFull text for regional U.S. newspapers, international newspapers, news wires, newspaper columns as well as 24 TV and radio news transcripts. Also contains indexing and abstracts for national newspapers.