Using EBSCOhost

Jump to: What is EBSCOhost? | Logging On | EBSCOhost Advanced Search | EBSCOhost Basic Search | Truncation | Proximity Connectors | Search Results | Browsing a Specific Publication | Browsing Subjects | Printing Search Results | Persistent Links to Full Text Articles | Getting Help

What is EBSCOhost? What is EBSCOhost?

EBSCOHost is an Internet-accessible database provider that provides access to numerous journal and newspaper indexes.  These indexes contain abstracts and some full text for magazine and journal articles in all disciplines. EBSCOHostIt is available via the Geisler Library Home Page or Databases web page, and can be accessed through any computer with a Central College IP address. EBSCOHost databases and indexes can also be accessed from off campus with a Central login.

To access EBSCOhost, click on EBSCOhost Periodical Index on the Geisler Library Home Page or the Databases web page. You will be presented with a choice of indexes and databases to search. Choose which ones are to be searched by checking the box next to the appropriate title. Click on Continue to access the basic search screen.

EBSCOhost is set up to go directly to the Advanced search screen.
Combine terms:
This search allows the user to enter multiple terms, each connected with a Boolean operator (AND, OR, NOT) chosen from the pull-down menu at the beginning of each line. Users can also choose the part of the record (field) in which the term will appear by choosing an option from the pull-down menu at the end of each line.
Limiting:
Limit your search to items to Full Text articles or searching only in journals owned by Central College.
Other options for limiting search results include requiring the item to be a cover story, have illustrations, and/or be peer reviewed.  These limits are set up by checking or filling in the appropriate boxes. 

(Editor's note: Before selecting the Full Text limit, ask yourself what your motivation is for taking that approach. EBSCOhost can provide you with information about journal articles that are sitting on our shelves in the library. They might be the *perfect* articles for you, but they do not happen to be Full Text. Wouldn't you rather make up your own mind about what to choose for your own research, rather than letting the Full Text limit take away some good options? Please feel free to talk a Reference Librarian about this topic. We would like to hear from you and what you think.)

Truncation

Truncation allows a user to make his/her keywords more flexible by allowing variant endings of a word root.
An asterisk at the end of a word root allows the computer to search for any word that begins with those letters (i.e. psych* will return psychology, psychologist, psychiatrist, psychological, etc.). The word root should be as lengthy as possible to ensure fewer unnecessary retrievals (i.e. bio* will return biographer, biology, biochemistry, bionic, etc). It is also possible to replace one letter anywhere inside of a word with a question mark (i.e. wom?n).

Proximity searching uses "connectors" to specify how far apart two search terms can be. When two terms are connected by n and a number (i.e. N5), the specified words must be within 5 words of one another regardless of the order in which they appear. If the connector is a w and a number (i.e. W8) the words must be within 8 words of each other and in the order in which they were entered.

Search results are returned in chart form, with each citation in a separate box. Click on each citation to access a longer entry containing a full citation and brief abstract, as well as links to full text where available.  Full text may be available in either HTML or PDF format.  Choose PDF when available so that you get any photos, charts, graphs, etc. that are included in the article, plus original pagination.

To return to the list of brief citations, click on the Result List button.

To browse a list of the publications indexed in EBSCOhost, click on the Publications button at the top of every EBSCOhost page.  To jump to a particular title, type its name in the dialogue box and then click on the Browse button.  Or click on one of the letters of the alphabet to go to that section of the list.

To view citations for the desired title, click on the title.  This retrieves a list of all issues indexed from that publication, listed in reverse chronological order.  Choose the desired year, then issue, then select from the list of articles presented.

It is possible to browse an alphabetical list of subjects by clicking on the Subject Terms button at the top of each page.   Enter a term you wish to view in the dialogue box.  You will see a list of related terms, or preferred (USE ... ) terms.  To view related, broader and narrower terms related to a  particular subject, simply check its box and click on the term.    To use all of these terms in your search, click on the box next to the term, then click on "ADD."

When you find an article you wish to print, e-mail to yourself, or save to a disk, click on the "ADD to Folder" icon either on the results list next to the article, or at the top of the page of the full article.  When you have looked at all the articles, click on "FOLDER HAS ITEMS" icon to view the articles you have added.   For articles in PDF format:  you must open the individual article using Adobe Acrobat Reader (this program will open automatically when you click on the article title or PDF link) and then print using the print icon on the Acrobat Reader toolbar.

Creating a Persistent Link to a Full Text article

EBSCOhost provides the option of creating "Persistent Links" to a record.
If you find a full-text article you would like to have someone else read, go to the bottom of the citation and look for "Persistent link to this record."   Copy this link and then you can paste it into an e-mail, into a webpage, course, syllabus, etc. and others can follow this link and access the article without having to do their own EBSCO search.

Click here for instructions on creating multiple links.

Clicking on the Online Help icon at the top of every EBSCOhost web page.
OR ask a Reference Librarian for assistance.

"How Do I...?" Web Page
Databases Web Page
Geisler Library Home Page

Using
Posted: March 18, 1999
Revised:October 28, 2004 ls