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Finding Full Text: SPU and Beyond (Fall 2020 version)

SPU Library Search | Databases

Below are some strategies for Finding the Full Text of 1) the articles in periodicals (magazines, journals, etc.), 2) the essays/chapters in books, and 3) the books returned by a database search.

1) Finding the Full Text of an article in a periodical returned by a database:

Most databases will give several options for finding a full text version of the articles they return when searched. The options will often appear below or beside the citation information of an article, and include:

  • Either "PDF Full Text" or "HTML Full Text" - clicking will give you a link to the full text online.
  • "Check For Full Text."  Clicking on this link will initiate a search of the SPU Library's discovery system for the periodical (not always the very article) in question
  • "Request via Interlibrary Loan."  Clicking on this link will populate an InterLibrary Loan request.
    • But before placing an InterLibrary Loan request consider searching the catalogs of public libraries in the area (Seattle Public Library or King County Public Library) or your local public library for the periodical in question. 

2) Finding the Full Text of an essay in a book returned by a database:

Just about everything in this record (pp. 145-159 IN:, the presence of ed[itors], the presence of a publisher (Oxford University Press), the lack of volume and issue numbers, and the phrase book article) indicates that what we're dealing with here is an essay or chapter in a book, sometimes called a book article:

Screenshot of a book chapter record from a database with citation information highlighted.

Screenshot of a citation in a database for "C.S. Lewis's The Voyage of the 'Dawn Treader' and Apuleius' Metamorphoses" by Jeff Winkle IN Classical Traditions in Modern Fantasy published by Oxford University PressThe screenshot also includes a Request via Interlibrary Loan link below the citation

And to procure an essay in a book you need the book.  Thus, you would search (the Advanced Search area of) the Library's discovery system for the book, in this case Classical traditions in modern fantasy, edited by Benjamin Eldon Stevens:

Screenshot of SPU discovery system search boxes with example search text and results list.

Screenshot of the SPU discovery system's search boxes with terms "Stevens" and "Classical traditions in modern fantasy" in two of the boxes. Below the search boxes are two search results: an e-version and a print version of the book "Classical traditions in modern fantasy."

Note that, according to its Table of Contents as represented in those Library records, the book above does indeed contain the essay in question:

Screenshot of a table of contents record from the SPU discovery system with a particular chapter highlighted.

Screenshot of the table of contents screen for "Classical traditions in modern fantasy" from the SPU discovery system. The chapter "C.S. Lewis's The voyage of the "Dawn Treader" and Apuleius' Metamorphoses" by Jeff Winkle is underlined.

To get a chapter from a book that is not available in an e-version but is held by the SPU Library, request a scan using the Search Request Form.

3) Finding the Full Text of a book returned by a database:

Follow the same steps as above for a book chapter.  You need the book:

Screenshot of a book record from a database search with citation information highlighted.

Screenshot of an SPU discovery system search with example text and results list.

Screen shot of the database entry for the citation of the book "The Lion's World: A Journey into the Heart of Narnia" with the notation "book" underlined. Below the database entry is a screenshot of the SPU discovery system's search box and results list for a search for "Journey into the heart of Narnia." Two results - an e-version and a print version - of the book are shown.

If the book you are looking for is not held by SPU in an e-version, consider how much of the book you need. If you need a small amount of the book (for example, one to two chapters), request a scan via the Search Request Form. If you need the entire book, search another resource, like a public library, or contact a librarian for assistance