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BRCC Houff Library

Psychology Guide

Helpful Definitions

A library database is a digital collection of resources that is used to search for scholarly information. This can include ebooks, audiobooks, scholarly/academic journal articles, magazine articles, newspapers, encyclopedias, and streaming access to full-length features movies as well as educational material. For direct access to our A-Z Database list go to: https://brcc.vccs.libguides.com/az.php

If you are accessing library databases off-campus, you will need to login using your myBRCC username and password. We have a guide to assist with that process: https://brcc.vccs.libguides.com/offcampus

An academic journal is a scholarly publication containing articles that is published regularly. 

Scholarly articles are published in academic journals. Often they have been peer-reviewed, which means they have been analyzed by experts.

Filters, or limiters, are database tools that allow users to refine their search results to better meet their research goals. Most databases have filters for: full-text, peer reviewed sources, publication date, source type, subject terms, language, and many more. 

An abstract is the summary of a research article, usually describing the main points of the paper. Many databases will provide an abstract or summary either below the article link, or as the first paragraph within the paper itself. We recommend reading the abstract first to see if a paper discusses your research topic, before diving into the full text. 

Peer-Review is a process by which a scholarly work (such as an article) is checked by a group of experts in the same field or subject area to make sure that it meets the necessary standards before it is published. Check with your professor or syllabus to know if your assignment requires peer-reviewed articles. You can filter your databases searches to only include peer reviewed documents.
peer review image

The Full Text limiter means you can access the entire text of an article or an eBook online through our databases or catalog. You can also limit your database search to full text articles only.
full text filter image

Use the Boolean operators (AND, OR, and NOT) to connect your search words in order to narrow or broaden a search online.

  • AND will narrow your search results. For example, performing a search for "Shakespeare" AND "Tempest" will generate results that have both Shakespeare and Tempest in them.
  • OR will broaden your results. For example, performing a search for "Shakespeare" OR "Tempest" will generate results that have either Shakespeare or Tempest in them. 
  • NOT will narrow your search results. For example, performing a search for "Shakespeare" NOT "Tempest" will generate results for Shakespeare that do not that have Tempest in them. 

Finding Articles in Academic Search Complete

The following is an overview of the database search process. For a fuller description, with images of the searching process, click through the tabs above. 

  1. Finding Articles: To find articles using our library databases, go to the library homepage, and use the link for "Articles/Databases."

  2. Choosing a Subject Area: This will take you to the A-Z database list. You can look for a title on the full list, or use the filters at the top to narrow down those results. You can filter by Subject, or Database Type.

  3. Choosing a Database: Access the database you want by clicking on the linked title. 

  4. Conducting a Search: Once you are in a database, you can use the search boxes at the top to begin your research. You may begin with a simple search, or use multiple terms and Boolean operators to create a more complex search. 

  5. Search Results: You will most likely get a large amount of results when you begin your search. There are filters on that you can use to narrow down your results list. 

  6. Using Limiters: There are a variety of limits (filters) available. "Full Text" and "Peer Reviewed" are the most used. You can access all the available filters by clicking the "all filters' dropdown.

  7. Accessing the Article: To access the full text article click on one of the options below the title. For a PDF, click the "Access now (PDF)" button or, choose to read an HTML version via "Online full text."

As a BRCC student, you have online access to millions of newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles through the library databases. Some databases provide access to films and ebooks as well.

To begin, go to the full A-Z list of our library databases by clicking Articles/Databases on the library homepage.

Click on Subjects and then make a choice from the drop-down menu to see all databases for that subject area. For example, if you are doing research for and English paper, you could select English & Literature Criticism to see a list of all databases with information related to that subject.

Then click on a database from the list. In this example we will use Academic Search Complete. We recommend creating a free EBSCO account to easily keep track of your search term history and create separate project folders for each course. Click here for more info on that process.

Once you are in the database, type in keywords related to your subject in the search box.

You may begin with a simple search, or use multiple terms and Boolean operators to create a more complex search.

Next, you will see a list of all the results of your search. This search found over 1000 results! You can use the filters underneath the search bar to refine your results. "Online full text" will force your results to only show articles that you have full access to read. "Peer reviewed" will limit the results to those approved by the peer review process. The "All time" dropdown menu will provide publication date range options.  

You can access the full list of filters by clicking the "All filters" button. 

If you specifically need a journal article, use the "Source types" filter and activate the Academic journals option. If you need to narrow your search further, try searching for a specific subject using the "Subjects" filters. You can also limit your results to a specific date range. Once you have chosen your filters, click Apply.

To access the full text article click on the "Access now (PDF)" button or, choose to read via "Online full text."

You can access the full menu of tools at the top of the article page.

You may also want to save the article by printing, emailing it, or saving it to your Google Drive. You can also now create an EBSCO account to permanently save articles for easy access. See the guide below for what each menu item means.

Download (Options for PDF or HTML link) 

Translate function

Table of Contents

Listen - Audio playback

Save item (must have an account to save long-term)

Citation tool

Save to project - Login to save item in your projects (must have an account)

Share

Print

The citation tool is a great place to start for your works cited page. However, be sure to check the citation that is generated for the article against our citation handouts, as they are not always 100% accurate. 

Many databases also have accessibility functions. In this case there is an option for having the article read to you, as well as a translation function.

For more information on the translation function check out our guide: https://brcc.vccs.libguides.com/translating/asc

 

Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT) can be used to connect keyword concepts to either broaden or narrow your search results

To keep track of your search history and articles, we recommend setting up an EBSCO account. To do this, click on the MyEBSCO icon in the upper right hand corner of the database page.

Use your school email to setup your account.

You are now ready to save articles to your account for easy access! Use the same MyEBSCO button to login each time you begin a research session. Set up project folders to keep track of which articles you want to use for each course.