Requesting & Retrieving Journal Articles Assignment

Getting the articles you've identified in your bibliography can take the vast majority of your time. Consequently, you are advised to begin this process as early as possible and maintain efforts to acquire these articles on an on-going basis.

The FGCU Library:  The FGCU library is an excellent place to start searching for your articles. The library maintains many journal subscriptions (identified as critical by science faculty) and, provided the dates of our holdings include the article you're interested in, you may simply be able to take it off of the shelf and photocopy it. Alternatively, FGCU's library also subscribes electronically to many journals, allowing you to simply print-out the article(s) of interest. In any case, the library is the place to start.

Holdings: You may have access to many articles of interest through the library holdings (things the library actually has on its shelves, etc.). To find out if the library has the journal you need, you'll need to search the Library Catalog by “journal title”, available from the library home page. Many of the library's journals are available online as well. The Library Catalog will tell you what format the journal is available in (print or electronic). If its electronic, you can link you to the content from within the catalog.

This resource guide for Scientific Process was prepared by Danielle Rosenthal (Fall 2010). It has links to a number of pertinent databases:

http://fgcu.libguides.com/sciproc

InterLibrary Loan ( ILL ): As we noted earlier, you will undoubtedly also require articles or books not owned by FGCU. Interlibrary loan will be the primary means for accessing such articles. ILL , however, can be highly time consuming, sometimes taking several weeks after a request is made. In an ideal situation, ILL librarians will be able to retrieve your reference in less than two weeks. However, please bear in mind that uncommon journals, old citations, and other unusual requests may take an extended period of time to be filled. For this reason, it is imperative that you file your ILL requests as early as possible in the research development phase.

Comments: Librarians have been very helpful to Scientific Process students in the past. In order to maintain this relationship, we ask that you always be understanding of the librarian's own limits of time and resources and always treat them with respect and kindness. In addition, as an aspiring scientist, you should learn to acknowledge the individuals who assist you in your research, and this includes the library staff. Please let them know how valuable their assistance is as you progress through the semester.

© Meers, Savarese, Demers, Barreto, Kakareka, Volety, Everham, Cruz-Alvarez, Loh, Goebel, Fugate, Bovard, Hartley, Mujtaba, & Gunnels 2009.

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Last updated July 30, 2012