a Science & Engineering Library (SEL) page
Tracking the “Elusive” E-resource


For various reasons there are several Web sites to check for access to e-resources available to UCLA students, faculty, and staff.  Below are links to comprehensive listings of licensed e-resources, including electronic journals. If there’s an e-resource that would be useful to you that UCLA has not licensed or to report an access problem, please contact an SEL subject specialist.

Citation Linker helps you find a link to a publisher's Web site for locating a specific journal article
UCLA E-resources
Electronic Resources in Science and Engineering
UCLA E-resources from the California Digital Library (CDL)
UCLA Library Catalog  check for “ONLINE ACCESS ”  link
Melvyl Catalog  check for “Available online” links
Article Databases check for UC e-Links buttons Context Sensitive Links
Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory  check for E and URL link
Google

Other hints for successful “tracking”

  • Check the publisher’s Website for up-to-date information on available volumes.  Many publishers are adding scanned images of their earlier print (paper) volumes. 
  • Caution:  Holdings information for online resources in the UCLA Library Catalog may be inaccurate or out-of-date due to recent acquisitions of backfiles or changes in licensing agreements.
  • CautionMelvyl Catalog may not indicate UCLA has online access even though we do.  (HINT: Try linking to another campus’s online access; sometimes UCLA users will have access as well; if it asks for a password, forget it.)
  • Many article databases provide links to e-resources via UC e-Links buttons Context Sensitive Links.  For example, search UCLA’s version of  PubMed to use this feature.
  • IP address validation by licensed providers gives UCLA users access to e-resources from Google and Ulrich’s searches. 
  • UCLA users with valid Bruin OnLine accounts can access restricted resources from home using UCLA's Bruin Online proxy or VPN (Virtual Private Network ) servers.
  • Two databases, SciFinder Scholar and CrossFire are only accessible off-campus from the VPN server or dialup. Also, the VPN client is required to use the campus Wireless Network.
  • Finding a journal from a reference (citation) sometimes requires knowing the full title from the abbreviated one.   A useful resource in science and engineering is CASSI (Chemical Abstracts Service Source Index).   The next best thing to searching CASSI is a Web site for searches by keywords including journal abbreviation, ISSN or ISBN, and CODEN;  omit periods (punctuation) from journal abbreviations in searching this site.
  • Other abbreviation tools are available at: Reference E-Resources - Acronyms & Abbreviations
  • When searching the UCLA Library Catalog with abbreviated journal titles,  replace periods (punctuation) with a question mark (truncation symbol), e.g. Ark? Kemi , and use a Keyword search; a minimum of three letters is required before truncating.



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