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MFA in Creative Writing Resources

Using the SPU Article Databases

The SPU Library provides access to millions of full text articles from magazines, newspapers, trade publications, and academic journals. To access these you can search in the library's article databases.

Choose a specific database using the drop down menus to find the ones in your subject area. Or search multiple databases at the same time, starting with Academic Search Complete & then adding on others by clicking on "Choose databases."

search boxes

Searching Tips:

1. Keep your search simple. Put one word or phrase in each search box

2. Sort your results by relevance

3. Look for "subjects" or "descriptors" to gather more keywords

4. Try multiple searches using different combinations of keywords

people using a telescope

Where is the Actual Full Text of the Article?

 

  • Full-text HTML or PDF in the database
  • Click on “Check for full-text”
  • In print or on microfilm at the SPU Library (“SPU holds this title”)
  • Inter Library Loan

 

Please ask me or another librarian if you need help finding the full text.

Finding an article when you know the journal title

Has this ever happened to you?

A professor suggests that you look for articles in a specific journal.

You find an article on the Internet but the full text is not free.

You find an article in the reference list of another article.

In these cases, look up the title of the journal in the SPU Library Catalog to find out what our full text access is.

For example, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior

Image of library catalog search box

If we have access to the journal, you will see it in the catalog results indicated by the label "Journal." Click on the title to see what access we have. Choose the database that has the years you need. In the example below, if you wanted the most recent years, you would choose the Elsevier Science Direct link since we have access from 2002 to the present.

 

image of search results for online journal

 

 

 Look for a place to choose the year and then the issue or a place to search for a topic within that journal.

 

For some journals, we have online access to many years except the most recent. The most recent year might be found in hard copy at the Library. Look up the journal title in the SPU Library Catalog. If we have the journal in hard copy, it will say "Available at Seattle Pacific University periodicals."

 

Please ask me or another librarian if you need help finding articles.