Help with the Article Databases page

Goal | How to use the page | Database features
Additional electronic resources

Goal
The goal of the Article Databases page is to bring together the indexes to periodicals and other materials that are meant for researchers in the social sciences and humanities.

The Web-based and CD-ROM resources listed here index one or more of the following: scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, books, book chapters, dissertations, manuscripts, government publications, working papers, and conference proceedings. Some of the Web sites provide the complete text of the articles in addition to indexing. These are noted with a .

How to use the page
In the upper frame is a drop-down menu with an alphabetical list of subjects. Find the subject that most closely matches your research need, and click on it. The list of databases on that subject will appear in the lower frame. Read the database descriptions to see which one you want to use, and click on its title to access the database. (If the title is not hyperlinked (in blue), it is a CD-ROM that can only be used in the library.)

A new browser window (e.g. Netscape or Explorer) will open with the selected index. The window with the Article Databases page will minimize but still be readily accessible. To access another index, maximize the Article Databases window, and make your selection. You might also want to close the window with the index you were using if you wish to avoid having too many windows open at the same time.

If you do not find the subject you need in the list of subjects, try "General/Multidisciplinary" to find databases which cover many subject areas.

If you know the title of the database you are looking for, click on "Article Databases A-Z" in the upper frame, then click on the first letter of the index's title.

Database Features
The various indexes (or "databases") vary in terms of which journals they index, dates of coverage, who may access them, which search interface they employ, and in other ways.

• Coverage: For each database there is a short description of the topics and dates covered by the index. Read this to see if it provides the coverage you need to research your topic. Often there are a few indexes useful for a given topic.
• Access: Symbols are used to indicate restrictions to accessing the database.
• Search interfaces: The databases vary in their look and searching mechanisms. Several databases (those hosted by the California Digital Library) use the same interface as the Melvyl Catalog. Other databases use their own systems and interfaces. Most provide help and information on using these systems.
• Information provided: Some databases provide nothing but the search interface and the citations to the articles. Others provide one or more of the following:
  • abstracts (short article summaries)
  • library locations of the journals at UC or around the country
  • call numbers of the journals at the UC libraries
  • the full text of the articles themselves for all or only some of the journals indexed
    Note: If the periodical index you are searching provides neither the full article text nor the UCLA library locations of the periodicals, use the CDL Periodical Titles database or UCLA Library Catalog to obtain the library location and call number.

Additional electronic resources
At the bottom of the list of subjects in the drop-down menu is a link to "Electronic Resources Available Only in the Library." This leads to lists of CD-ROM periodical indexes and research tools in the Arts Library and East Asian Library. These resources are not on the Web, and must be used in the respective libraries.

Ask a librarian at any of the UCLA libraries for further help researching your subject.