ART 101: Art Appreciation (Hawks): Database Searching Tips

Database Search Tips

NARROW YOUR RESULTS to make sure you are getting the most recent and relevant articles.

Look for this box to limit the results to only FULL TEXT articles (so you can read them right away), PEER REVIEWED JOURNAL articles (if you are required to use this type of source), and by YEAR (so you are getting the most current information). 

Choosing An Article

Once you find an article that seems helpful, click on the title to view the abstract page.

The abstract is a brief summary of the article. This will tell you what the article is about and will help you to decide if you want to use it or not. 

Academic journals are written for professionals in the field and can contain a lot of technical terms. Make sure the article is easy for you to understand. If it's too technical, you may want to continue searching.

If the article looks helpful, then you can read the full text. You'll be able to print or save the whole article from there.

You can also print, save, or email the abstract page, so you can easily access it again later.