Determining Full-Text Access
Periodicals Holdings List
The Periodicals Holdings List (PHL) is a listing of both the
print/microform periodicals available on the shelves of the Western
Illinois University Libraries, and the full-text e-titles available via
databases purchased by the Libraries. This resource currently indexes
over 20,000 periodical titles.
When you see this button, click on it to determine full-text
availability. By clicking on the Find It! button you are engaging the
libraries Peridocials Holdings List. The example below shows the Find
It! button in a bibliographic citation:
What are "professional journal" articles?
As a student, you will often be asked to use scholarly journal articles. A scholarly article, as opposed to magazines or news articles, are reviewed by professionals and experts in the field to verify the accuracy of the work. Scholarly articles also have citations, (footnotes, end notes, works cited pages, and bibliographies), that you can use in your own work to follow up further verified information to support your research.
There are a number of clues that can help determine whether an article is "professional". Regardless, the first thing to remember when trying to decide information quality is that no single criterion can be used to judge the information effectively. Used toghether, they can give you a pretty good idea how "professional" the inforamation is.
- Content (topic being discussed)
- Audience (for the layperson or someone familiar with the research in the subject?)
- Language (higher level language and discipline-specific terminology)
- Intent (case study, report of experimental results...)
- Authorship (qualifications of author to write on the topic, usually an advanced degree with years of experience and research on the topic)
- Peer-review (material is evaluated by experts and only published if meets the discipline's standards)
- References (other materials used in the research process are listed in a bibliography or footnotes)
- Listing (check Ulrich's in the Research Databases to see if the publication is listed as refereed)
Ulrich's International Periodicals-data on over 210,000 regularly published and irregularly issued serials; publisher contact info
Paraphrasing & Plagiarism
Paraphrasing means using an existing idea or information by reshaping the author's words so that you present your own version in a new form. Paraphrasing skills help writers in a nmber of ways.
1. It is a legal way to borrow from other sources.
2. It is more useful for expressing ideas than long, direct quotes, in parentheses,
3. It helps writers understand the borrowed material better.
Plagiarism is the act of stealing or using or passing off as someone elses words, phrases, ideas, writings, or creative work as your own, whether you mean to or not.
According to Diana Hacker, editor of The Bedford Handbook, reminds her readers that "[t]hree different acts are considered plagiarism: (1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas, (2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and (3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words" (570).
Basically you have to give authors credit for the work they did. You can avoid plagiarism by always citing your sources, including any and all resources and information found on the Web, via the Internet, or other electronic sources. Citing your sources accomplishes a number of things.
1. It gives the creator of work credit where credit is due.
2. It lets your readers know where you got your information, so they can tell if your sources are reliable.
3. It gives readers ionformation about the resource so they can find it if they want more information.
Citing Your Sources: Hard Copy, Internet and RefWorks
There are a number of style you can use to cite your work, ask your instructor which they prefer.
Here are some of the most common ones. Diana Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual features three popular formats: MLA, APA, and Chicago. Of the three listed, APA is the style I recommend for science research papers. For special instructions on how to cite Internet sources, see Hacker’s A Pocket Style Manual, Fourth Edition, pages 174-175. You can, of course, always consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition (APA Manual). We have APA Manuals at the Reference Desk. For Internet sources, see pages 268-281. The Reference Staff have created handouts on two of three popular styles, Chicago is currently under revision and is not available.
To manage your citations, you might consider learning how to use RefWorks.
It is citation management software that is compatible with most of the
University Libraries's databases. Contact a librarian to set up a personal
account and begin filling folders with citations. You will find RefWorks on the WIU Libraries list of databases.
Library Reference Service
If you need more help with the library tools
demonstrated today, visit the Library Reference Desk, located
on the main (second) floor of the library. The desk is open Mon-Thurs.
9-9, Fri. 9-5, Sat. 1-5, and Sun 1-5, 6-9.