This page contains basic information about how to search for and access articles from magazines, newspapers and scholarly journals. For more advanced assistance, contact your subject librarian.
There are several places you can start when searching for articles:
When searching for an article from a magazine, newspaper or scholarly journal in TWUniversal, use the following steps:
1) If you are looking for a specific article, type or paste the article title into the search bar. If you are searching for articles on a topic, type 2-3 search words to start with. You can add more later if you need to.
2) Use the "Content Type" filter to refine your results to the type of information you're looking for: Articles, Newspapers Search.
3) If you feel overwhelmed by the number of search results, try the following:
To access an article you found in TWUniversal, use the following steps:
1) Click the title of the article you're interested in.
2) Scroll down the page to the "View It" section. After the words "Full text" is the name of a database that contains the full text of the article. Click the database name to continue. Sometimes, multiple databases are listed. Any of them should work.
3) After clicking the database name, you may be prompted to log in with your TWU portal username and password. Use the same username and password you use to log in to your other TWU accounts.
4) Each database is a bit different, but to access the full text of the article, search the page for the words "full text" or "pdf." Sometimes the words "HTML full text" are what to search for.
I'm being asked to pay money to access the article. Should I pay?
You should never have to pay to access an article from a resource that TWU subscribes to. To avoid this situation, always start your searches from the TWU Libraries website. If you started your search from the TWU Libraries website and are asked to pay money to access an article, this may be a technical error. Please notify library staff.
A database is a digital collection of information. Databases can contain articles, books, images, videos, audio and more. Below is how to find and access articles using databases. If at any point you feel overwhelmed or stuck, contact your subject librarian for assistance.
1a) If you are starting from the A-Z Databases list, you can search for a specific database using the search bar. Or you can use the "All Subjects" drop-down menu and select the subject you're researching.
1b) If you are starting from a library subject guide, click the title of the database you want to search. If you are new to searching databases, it may be easier to start in the subject guide instead of the A-Z Databases list.
2) Click on the title of a database you want to search.
3) Log in with your TWU username and password if prompted to do so. This is the same log-in you use for your other TWU accounts.
Each database is a bit different. The steps below are very basic and can generally be followed in most databases. If you need more advanced or customized searching assistance, contact your subject librarian for guidance.
1) When starting a search use only 1-3 search words to begin with. If you use too many search words, you may get zero results and not know why. It's best to start small so you know how many results you have to work with and then add more search words as you go.
2) Use filters as needed. These serve the same function as filters on retail websites that allow you to filter your results for certain prices, brands, colors, etc. Using too many filters at once may cause you to have zero search results and not know why. Only use a filter if you need it, and only add one filter at a time. Common filters you may use are related to publication date, peer-review, subject or language.
3) Add search words and filters until there a few enough search results for you to look through. If you are only willing to look through 100 search results, add search words and filters until you have fewer than 100 search results.
To access the full text of article that you found in a library database, use the following steps:
1) In your search results, click the title of the article.
2) Clicking the article title will take you to a page with information about the article. Search around the page for the words "full text" or "PDF" or "HTML full text." These are usually found along the upper area of the page, sometimes along the left or right side.
3) Once you've located the words "full text" or "PDF," click any links or buttons nearby.
4a) If the article PDF exists in the database you were searching, the PDF should open up. From there, you can download, save or print the PDF to use again later.
4b) If you click a button or link for "Find It @ TWU," you will be taken to TWUniversal where you will find either a list of databases where the full text can be found or a message indicated that TWU may not have access to that particular article.
I'm being asked to pay money to access the article. Should I pay?
You should never have to pay to access an article from a resource that TWU subscribes to. To avoid this situation, always start your searches from the TWU Libraries website. If you started your search from the TWU Libraries website and are asked to pay money to access an article, this may be a technical error that library staff should be notified of.
I got a message that TWU does not have access to the article I need. How can I get the article?
TWU Libraries budget prioritizes subscriptions to resources most closely related to the degrees offered at TWU, so there are resources that TWU does not subscribe to.
If you need an article that TWU does not have access to, try requesting it through Interlibrary Loan (ILL). Interlibrary Loan does not cost you anything to use. Acquiring the article through ILL can take a few business days, so always begin your research well before the due date of your assignment.