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About Databases

Go to EBSCOHOST databases

The following quick-start guide has been created for CSUN students and researchers. For more information on using EbscoHost, consult EbscoHost Online Help.

Jump to: Restrictions & Requirements | Searching | Results | My EbscoHost | Related Print Resources

Description

Scope

EbscoHost provides access to 14 databases. Native full-text access, links to check Oviatt Library holdings, and the function may be available, depending on the database and resource.

Databases

• Academic Search Elite -- indexes 3,250 journals (1,250 peer-reviewed journals) with full text to 1850 of the journals from 1985.
• America: History & Life: Indexes 1,700 journals as well as dissertations on the history and culture of the United States and Canada. 1964-
• CINAHL Plus with Full Text -- indexes 3,024 nursing and allied health journals, with cited references from 1600 journals; provides full text-access to many journals and other sources, including legal cases, research instruments, and clinical trials. 1937-
• Communication & Mass Media Complete -- abstracts over 600 journals in communication studies, speech, mass media, journalism, linguistics, and communicative disorders. Full text for more than 240 journals. Dates of coverage vary by title.
• ERIC -- full text to more than 2,200 digests, and citations and abstracts from over 1,000 educational and education-related journals.
• Film & Television Literature Index -- indexes over 350 U.S. and international film and television periodicals, including popular magazines, scholarly journals, and trade publications. In addition, selected content is chosen from thousands of additional publications that contain relevant content. Dates of coverage vary. A title list is available (http://www.epnet.com/titleLists/fa-coverage.xls).
• GeoRef -- abstracts more than 3,000 publications in geology and earth sciences. North America coverage is 1785-. International coverage is 1933-
• Historical Abstracts: Covers scholarly literature in history. All world history (1450 to present) is covered EXCEPT that of the United States and Canada. These are covered by America: History & Life. 1955-
• Index to Jewish Periodicals -- indexes English-language articles, book reviews, and feature stories in more than 160 journals devoted to Jewish affairs. Coverage from 1988.
• International Political Science Abstracts -- abstracts 900 journals from 1989-
• Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts -- indexes more than 600 periodicals in library and information science, plus books, research reports and proceedings. 1960s-
• PsycARTICLES -- full text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology, covering general, specialized, applied, clinical and theoretical research in psychology. Coverage from 1894.
• PsycCRITIQUES -- full text reviews of current books and popular films in psychology. Replaces the print journal Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books. More than 39,000 reviews included. 1956-
• PsycINFO -- from the American Psychological Association (APA), citations and summaries from over 2000 mostly peer-reviewed journals, as well as books, book chapters, and dissertations. Includes information about the psychological aspects of related fields such as medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business, law and others. Coverage from 1887.

Restrictions and Software Requirements

• CSUN users (students, faculty, and staff) only

Searching

General Orientation

At the top of the search screen is four-tab toolbar. By default, the Advanced Search tab is selected. Basic Search reduces the number of search boxes. Visual Search allows you to search a keyword and then narrow your search by exploring related subject clusters using a graphical user interface. Choose Databases enables you to add or remove databases from your search. Databases can be searched individually or in combination.

Basic and Advanced Search

• Basic Search allows you to create a Keyword search and will search the title, subject headings and abstract unless you specify otherwise by clicking the Expanders link. You can manually type in Boolean and truncation operators (and, or, not, ?, *) .
• Advanced Search offers searchable fields, and lets you combine searches of different fields using Boolean operators in drop-down menus on the left-hand side.
• Both Basic and Advanced Search let you place limits as to the publication type, date, format, number of pages, etc. of the materials you want to find. Scroll down the search page to set limits available for each databases being searched.

Guided Searching: Limits in the Toolbar

If only one database is selected, a number of buttons will appear under Basic Search or Advanced Search that can help focus your search. Not all buttons are available in all database searches:

• Keyword: search by typing in your own terms
• Publications: search by publication
• Thesaurus: search indexed subjects and find related subjects, then apply to search
• Indexes: browse indexed terms in a number of fields, then apply to search. Different fields are available for each database.
• Cited References: find resources that cite a specific author, title, etc. See How to Find Cited References

A few buttons are unique:

• Subject Terms (Academic Search Elite): search by indexed subject
• Images (visible in Academic Search Elite): search the Ebsco Image Database in 6 categories: people, places, and historical photos, maps and flags.
• CINAHL Headings: search by indexed term
• Evidence-based Care Sheets (CINAHL) : limit search to care sheets
• Quick Lessons (CINAHL): limit search to quick lessons
• Author Profiles (Communications & Mass Media Index) : view information about individual authors; search by author name

Results

Results are displayed in reverse chronological order with the most recent article displayed first, but you can re-sort them by Source, Author, or Relevance.

• Further limit your search by format, date, etc. by clicking the Refine Search tab.
• Narrow your search by clicking one of the indexed subject terms displayed to the left of the results list to (TIP: Ebsco displays only 10 related subjects, and these will change if you re-sort the results by Source, Author, or Relevance).
• Full Text resources are provided through 5 possible links. HTML Full Text and PDF Full Text are provided by Ebsco. Linked Full Text displays text from an external website in a frameset of your browser. Check Library Holdings will take you to the Oviatt library catalog to find both print and electronic resources if available;will give you links to the library's electronic resources and catalog, and a link to ILL services if necessary.
• Click the title of an individual result for long display, which may include additional indexed terms. You can click one of the linked terms to begin a new search.

Managing Results

• To create a folder of selected results, click the folder icons next to individual items. Click Folder Has Items to print, email, or save selected results as a file.
• To return to a previous search, click the Search History/Alerts tab.

My EbscoHost

You can compile a list of references and save them in "My Folder" to use in another session if you create a My EbscoHost account. The account does not cost anything, but you still need to be a CSUN student, faculty member, or staff member to access the EbscoHost database. You can retrieve "My Folder" by clicking the Sign into My EbscoHost link at the top of the search page.

Related Print Resources

Print version of PsycINFO is Psychological Abstracts. BF1 .P65. 1-82. 1927-1995. View Catalog Record for location information.