Will this database give me what I need?
What subjects are covered?
Who is the intended audience?
What years are included?
What sources - journals, patents, dissertations, conferences, books and book chapters - are indexed?
Can I refine or narrow my search by adding filters or limiters?
How are the search results ordered: by date, accession number, or relevance?
Are full-text articles available?
Can I set up an account and save my searches and results?
Can I email my results or articles?
Can results be saved to bibliographic software (EndNote, RefWorks, Zotero, EasyBib, etc.)?
Author searching:
Older articles may NOT have an abstract. Article abstracts were not common until the 1970s.
Advanced search options provide additional limits to language, date, journal title, etc.
You've found an article or book you want to read. How do you get it?
1. Look for the "Find It" link and click on it. You may be taken to our subscribed journals.
2. Check OneSearch for the journal title or book, to see if we have a copy. Use CSU+ to borrow books from another CSU.
3. If we don't have it, submit an ILLiad interlibrary loan request. It's free. We'll get a copy from another library for you. You will receive an electronic copy in your email, or a notice that the book or article are at the User Services desk for you to pick up.
4. Only students and CSUS employees can use ILLiad.
5. Look to the UC Davis libraries: https://www.library.ucdavis.edu/. You can use your campus ID card to borrow up to 5 books. You can also search their databases on their campus, or from the Blaisdell Medical Library at the Med Center on X Street, at Stockton Blvd. Bring a usb drive and check in at the desk so you can be logged on to a computer. They close at 7 p.m. M-Th, and at 6 p.m. F-Sun.
SciFinder Scholar is the online equivalent of Chemical Abstracts. Published since 1907, this index covers journals, reports, conferences, book chapters, dissertations, patents, etc. Sacramento State access is available only to current students and employees with a valid SacLink account.
PubMed, available since 1996, is a database indexing more than 5600 biomedical research journals. Started in 1960, Medline is 90% of PubMed with out-of-scope articles cover the remaining 10%. Access is available to everyone at pubmed.gov or pubmed.com To print, choose the display settings under Summary. Then use your browser print function.
These databases index scholarly journals and some reports or conferences. They are broader in subject coverage than those above. You will find links to full articles if we have an online subscription to the journal.
These articles are limited to the publishers' journals. Sac State's subscriptions to these online journals may not cover the complete archive from the first volume. Check OneSearch for the journal title to see if we may have print copies in the Library. Sac State students and employees may request articles through ILLiad, our interlibrary loan service.