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Leadership

Searching for books, Academic Search Ultimate, video, statistics, & journals

Tips to Limit to US Based Content

Tips to Limit Database Results to U.S.-Based Content

Here are helpful tips on how to limit library database results to domestic or United States-published sources. You will see different ways to refine your search, such as using quotes to search for phrases, limiting by language, and making an assessment based on English language content. Also demonstrates how to limit resources in specific databases, like EBSCO, and how to use geographical options to search for United States-based content. While these methods are not foolproof, they can help narrow down your search and find resources from a USA perspective.

0:00 Introduction
0:32 Discovery Search
2:22 Database Search
4:55 Google Scholar Search

Waggoner Library provides access to the latest research including over 200,000 eBooks, 90,000 print books; several thousand streaming video files; local, regional, national & international newspapers; hundreds of thousands of full-text journal and magazine articles, trade publications, and doctoral dissertations are all part of the library's collection.

Online access is 24/7. The library website and online catalog provide access to all library collections, resources, and services. Watch the video below to learn about the tools on the library homepage. Then, click the tabs above to learn more about library resources. 

Article Searching

Waggoner Library has thousands of journals on all subjects. Most are accessible through our databases.
Typically, when searching for journal content, you would follow one of the paths below:

1. Searching by TOPIC

Begin by using Discovery Search

  • Enter your topic into the Discovery search box on the library homepage.
  • Click the 'Articles' icon and then the green search button.
  • Results will need to be narrowed down by Trevecca's library, peer-reviewed, date range, or other factors to see a list of relevant articles.
  • View the short tutorial below to understand the Discovery search.

It is important to realize that all Trevecca library databases are NOT included in Discovery Search results. You should use the A to Z Databases page; to find other resources in your field.

Choose more specialized databases using the A-Z Databases Link

  • We have over 150 databases. The A to Z Databases page lets you choose individual databases from an alphabetized title list or by dropdown subject subject choices. 

2. Browsing E-JOURNAL TITLES by SUBJECT

  • Start at the library homepage.
  • Mouse over Find Information on the top left of the  upper menu bar on the library homepage
  • Scroll down to select the option, E-journals by subject. This will open BrowZine, a tool to browse journal titles. 
  • Enter the subject area in the search box.  
  • You will see Trevecca electronic journal titles from that subject area in the result list. You can narrow the subject. 
  • Select a journal-title to browse the contents.
  • Articles include a link to the article, can be saved to a folder, and citations exported, or shared. 

3.  If you know the JOURNAL TITLE

  • Mouse over Find Information on the top left menu on the library homepage
  • Click the link to E-Journals by Title. 
  • When the page opens, Select the Browse tab.
  • Click the Journals tab to browse by journal title (this method quickly tells you if we have the journal)l
  • Select the letter of the alphabet representing the first word of the title from the horizontal A to Z list.
  • Scroll down to review the list of journal titles in that range.
    • If we have the journal, you may want to change to an Article search to see if we have the specific article you are looking for. 

4. If you have the ARTICLE TITLE and citation

  • Mouse over the top left menu on the library homepage and hold on Find Information 
  • Move the mouse down and select the link to E-Journals by Title. 
  • Select the Search tab.
  • Then click on the Articles button to search by article title. 
  • Complete the required information. (Article title and Journal/Publication title are all you need). 
  • Finally, click search.
  • If we have the full text for the article, you will find links to database results. Be sure you check date ranges, as many databases must deal with publisher embargoes of up to a year or more.
  • If there is no full text indicated, scroll down to select the Request Item Through Interlibrary Loan button. Complete the information on the form to receive a PDF reprint. There is no cost.

Learn more about Browzine options by clicking the link below: 

https://library.trevecca.edu/tutorials/browzine

What is Peer Reviewed?

Many writing assignments require students to use "research," "scholarly," "peer-reviewed," or "referred" journals.  These terms are often used interchangeably, although "peer reviewed" is the clearest and most specific way to designate this type of publication. 

Start by viewing this YouTube video Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals, to see and understand the differences between scholarly journals, trade publications, and general magazines.

Peer-reviewed or Referred journals are many scholars' most important sources of information. These journals do not publish an article unless it is recommended by other scholars/experts. Often this recommendation must be made blindly, without the reviewer knowing who the author is. 

A "research" article will almost always appear in a peer-reviewed journal. These are articles in which the author(s) report the research results they have conducted. They are one of several types of articles that such journals routinely publish.

Most of our databases have the option to limit search results to peer-reviewed journals.  See the examples below from Discovery search, Gale's Academic OneFile, and EBSCO Business Source Ultimate to show you where to limit a search to peer-reviewed articles

Discovery Search for journal articles

 

Gale Databases showing Academic OneFile - this location is the same in all Gale Databases

 

EBSCO Databases showing Business Source Ultimate - this location is the same in all EBSCO Databases

The foundational search methods described below can be applied as you need them to narrow your topic, hone in on specific content, or identify related terms and relationships. They can be applied in the library Discovery search, databases, Google Scholar, or general search engines. 

Keywords

Discovering the right combination of keywords for your research topic takes time. It's a process. You may use one group of words first and then try another group of related words or phrases all in the search process to find the right combination that fits your topic direction. Below you'll see suggestions to maximize keyword searching. 

Use Boolean to focus your search.

Including one of the Boolean terms in your search helps narrow or broaden results. The 'Not' operator eliminates terms from search results.

 

Prince George's Community College

Using Punctuation to Change Results

Truncation means adding a symbol to a word that will change your results. Most of the database help pages will list the truncation symbols that can be applied to a search. These are common symbols in use: 

  • The plus sign (+) at the end of the word retrieves the plural and singular forms of the word. 
  • The asterisk (*) at the end of a word will include variant endings of the word in your search results. e.g., swim* would include swim, swims, swimmer, swimming, etc.
  • Placing quotation (") marks around two words or more indicates the words should be searched as a phrase, with the words next to each other, not separate.

Subject Headings 

Review the subject headings found in relevant articles from library databases. Subject headings are official terms that are usually clickable either from the result list or from the full record seen after you click on the source's title. Using these to guide your search helps to focus the results.  

Applying Filters

Filters are found in Discovery search, library databases, and search engines. They are ways you can narrow down or focus your search results on retrieving the most relevant resources. 

   
Date Range

You may want to limit the search results you're seeing based on when they were published. For example, evidence-based medicine often involves looking at research from the last five years, while a project taking a historical perspective will want to include work going further back in time.
Language

Consider limiting your search results to just those published in languages that you can read research in. (Note: your professor/advisor may have additional language restrictions, so if you're including research in multiple languages, make sure that works for them, too.)
Source Type

Literature reviews usually rely rather narrowly on various scholarly or academic sources rather than the full spectrum of sources available to you. Consider limiting your results to Academic or Scholarly articles.
Article Type

Sometimes you just need a systematic review, empirical study, or another form of research. Subject-specific databases will almost always offer a way to narrow down your results by methodology (article type). When the filter isn't available, you can add your method of choice as an additional keyword!

 

Primary Leadership databases include:

What if an article does not have full text?

1. Use the E-Journals by Title Search

  • Identifies if the library has the journal and provides a database and link to access the full text.

2. Search Google Scholar by putting the article title within quotation marks. Many times, a PDF or HTML option for an article can be found at no cost on Google Scholar.

3. Check open-source scholarly databases to see if there is a full-text option:

4. Journal Article requests can be made through the Interlibrary Loan link on the library homepage

  • Use if you cannot find the full text from the library
  • Complete the form, submit it, there is no cost for this service! 
  • The article reprint will come as a PDF by email within 2-5 working days.

Books (print and eBook formats) are found on the library website

  • Over 90,000 print and 200,000 eBooks are part of the library collection.
  • Discovery search allows you to filter search results by print or eBook collections.
  • Discovery search results can be filtered to limit to Trevecca holdings or include other libraries.
  • Interlibrary Loan requests can be made online from the TNU library website.  
  • Leadership print books are found throughout the library depending the primary subject area. e.g., Management Leadership would be in the HD section, Church Leadership would be in the BV section, and School Leadership would be in the LB or LC section. 

View the Discovery Search: Books tutorial below to learn more.

Waggoner eBook collections are accessed through the library website where all titles are integrated into search results.  Use the filter option to limit results to eBooks only. 

As convenient as eBooks are, they are not perfect and restrictions exist. Copyright and Digital Rights Management (DRM) limits how they can be accessed and downloaded. Click here for the eBook Research Guide to see details like creating an account, printing, or how to check out an eBook title. The guide will take you through the process of viewing eBooks here at Trevecca and highlight restrictions you are likely to encounter and the best way to manage these problems.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE USE OF eBOOKs

NEVER download a library eBook for a class assignment unless you see that it has 'UNLIMITED USE'!

If you don't see that information you need to assume the title has LIMITED use. This means once it has been downloaded it is NO LONGER viewable online - prohibiting anyone else in your class from use of the book.

To complete your assignment you can create a PDF for a page range and email that to yourself. Federal copyright law has a limit of 60 pp but some publishers (Baker Books) have a limit of 12 pp at one time. You can log in again to retrieve additional pages. Consider downloading chapter PDFs or books in advance subject to availability for your institution. 

Download instructions are available here:

Internet browsers do make a difference. Firefox users may need to adjust the browser settings to open PDFs within the browser. To adjust the Firefox browser settings:

  • Select Options from the Tools menu in Firefox
  • Select Applications in the resulting Options window
  • Click Portable Document Format in the Content-Type column
  • Select Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox) in the drop-down menu to the right of Portable Document Format
  • Click OK if you have the option, otherwise close the box

Looking for a quality Infographic, charts, or other statistical information for a presentation or research?

Statista.com is one of the first statistic portals in the world to integrate data on over 80.000 topics from over 18.000 sources onto a single professional platform. Categorized into 21 market sectors, Statista.com provides the academic community, companies, and research institutions with direct access to quantitative data on media, business, finance, politics, and a wide variety of other areas of interest or markets. Below is an example of an infographic from Statista.

Infographic: The Industries With The Most Female Managers | Statista You will find more statistics at Statista 

 

Learn more about Statista from this introductory video.

Films on Demand is a collection of streaming videos from several publishers including Films for the Humanities, PBS, BBC, & other documentary producers.

Jump here to search Films on Demand.

Go MOBILE! 

Note: Users must sign in with your TNU username and password to access the videos on the Films On Demand app.