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FYS 100 - Sharks! (Prof. Merson)

A selection of information tools and strategies for Sharks! and beyond.....
Subjects: Biology, First Year Seminar

Science magazines - browsing for topics

American Scientist - print (most recent issues) and online

Nature - online

Nature Communications - online

New Scientist - print and online

PLoS ONE - online (Public Library of Science)

PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) - online

Science (AAAS) - online

Science News - online

Scientific American - print and online

Scientific Reports - online

Databases with Periodical Articles: newspapers, magazines, and academic journals

  • Discovering and gaining access to high-quality articles requires the use of an online index or database.  The three indexes selected for this list each specializes in a different type of periodical publication.  The articles indexed in each are, for the majority, not openly accessible on the Net. When Google or Bing finds such an article, someone is likely to ask for your credit card: don't let them have it!  Through the more than 85 online databases and reference sources to which Adams Library subscribes, we provide you with access to expertly edited, fact-checked materials.
  • REMEMBER: you must provide your RIC User ID and Password - as you do for Blackboard and campus email - in order to gain access to databases and other online library resources from off-campus.
  • Before you search the databases below, make sure that you understand the concepts in your assignment and that you create a list of any synonyms for those concepts to use as starting keywords in your search. (See some suggestions on the Reference Sources page of this guide).
  • When you find a relevant citation, click on "Check the RIC Library" to open another window which will indicate if the library has access to the newspaper, magazine, or journal and in what format (print or online). If the link checker software does not "see" any RIC holdings and the article looks particularly helpful the option, consider searching of the Library Catalog for that JOURNAL title (not the Article Title): it may be available at another library in the local area.
  • You can always request an article via InterLibary Loan (ILL) but REMEMBER: article requests require a MINIMUM of 7 days in-state (held by an RI library NOT in HELIN), two weeks if out-of-state.

 

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial on how to search for articles.

Searching in Databases

Searching in Academic Search Complete

Click here for a step-by-step tutorial on how to search for articles.

Citing Articles

Consult the wise old - for a variety of common citation styles -- but NOT for CSE (Council of Science Editors)!!  For simple CSE questions, try the Writing Center of the University of Wisconsin's guide

OWL OWL - The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University - to get basic structural information for creating a citation list or bibliography using a particular citation style such as APA, MLA, or Turabian.

 

Does RIC own this journal?

To look for a specific periodical whose title you know (i.e. Time, or Scientific American) , click on the JOURNALS By Title link on the Library home page. A search for the journal Nature, for example, indicates what years (issues) are owned by Adams Library and in what format: print or online.

Use this technique when you are NOT in a database with periodical references.  The database should give you a "Check the RIC Library" link to determine access to the publication.