LIBRARY

Understanding EbscoHost

El Camino Library subscribes to EbscoHost Masterfile Premier - a multi-discipline, largely full-text research database. Masterfile Premier provides full text for over 2,000 general reference, business, consumer health, general science, and multi-cultural periodicals, and abstracts and indexing for over 2,800 periodicals.  The database is updated daily by EbscoHost. This is our most popular database for periodical article searching, and accesses both popular magazines and scholarly journals. EbscoHost Masterfile Premier also features articles from Reference books, biographical material and selected full text primary source documents, plus image files of photographs, maps, and flags. Articles may be presented in HTML or PDF format. Also under the Ebscohost umbrella, and subscribed to by El Camino, are the Academic Search Elite and the CINAHL nursing databases. These latter databases are not specifically dealt with in this handout, but much of this information will be applicable. El Camino College Schauerman Library provides access to these databases from campus and from your home computer.

To access EbscoHost from our library computers on campus, you will use the screen below.

EL CAMINO COLLEGE SCHAUERMAN LIBRARY INTERNAL WEB PAGE

This Web page should be the one that will be on the computer when you sit down at library stations on campus.  If there is a different Web page on the screen, close that page by clicking on the x that is at the upper left of your screen.  When the screen is blank, click on Start then click on Library Online Resources, then on Explorer.  That will take you to this screen. Once here, click on Magazines, Journals & Newspapers to get to the EbscoHost database.

To access the database from home you need just visit our web site at http://www.elcamino.edu/library/library_ser/ and follow the instructions for off-campus access.

 USING EBSCOHost Masterfile Premier

This (below) could be the first EbscoHost screen you will see. Unless you wish to receive your directions in Spanish (see note below), select EbscoHost Web.  If you choose Ebscohost Espanol, you should be aware that only the interface will be in Spanish; the articles you access will still be in English.

The next screen provides you with a choice of databases provided by EbscoHost.  "Masterfile Premier" is automatically checked as the default so you need just press Enter. This is the database for general periodicals.

BASIC SEARCH. This will probably be the first screen you see after choosing EbscoHost. Type your search terms or search statement in the Find box. Then hit the Search button. Look at the options "Limit your Search" available to you: Click Peer Reviewed for scholarly articles from journals; you may also limit your search to Full Text only, but this is not recommended, since our library may have the actual magazine even if the article is not in the computer; you may also search for articles in a particular periodical title.

ADVANCED SEARCH. Notice that you have three boxes in which to put search terms.  For each search term, you have a choice of the fields you could search: author, subject, etc. Wherever you see a small inverted arrow, this indicates a drop-down menu.  At the very left, the menu choices are and, or, not.  At the right, there are many choices, including author, title, subject, etc. On the Advanced Search screen, you can also select scholarly articles (Peer Reviewed), or limit your search by a particular magazine, or by date published, cover story, etc.  Again, limiting by full text only is not recommended, as there are articles that are not full text that are found in this library.

  SEARCH TIPS

• The search terms and methods that you use will influence the number and quality of results.

• The search screen that you use - Basic, Advanced - will also influence the results. We feel that the Basic search screen is the most effective and easiest to use.

• Try using synonyms or other phrases with similar or identical meanings, for instance, use capital punishment if you are not finding enough articles under death penalty.

• If you type words in side by side with no words between them, EbscoHost will search these terms as a phrase.  In other words, high culture is the same as high culture.  Having said that, it is still good practice to use quotation marks around a phrase, because most search engines follow that practice.

• When searching for a person, do not put the last name first.    Example: John Steinbeck, not Steinbeck, John. Capitalization does not affect the search results.  John Steinbeck and john steinbeck both return exactly the same number of results.

• If you do not intend that your terms be searched as a phrase, you must insert the appropriate Boolean operator (and, or, not) between the words. 

1. Twain or Clemens.  This will bring up all articles that contain either the word Twain or the word Clemens.  Use of the word or will broaden your search.
2. earthquakes not California.  This will bring up articles about earthquakes that have occurred in places other than California.  Use of the word not will limit your search.
3. anthrax and symptoms.  This will bring up articles containing both terms.  These terms do not need to be conceptually related to each other.  Example: schools and prayer.  The word and will limit your search by forcing the database to find articles with both those terms..

• In order to print an article from EbscoHost on campus, you will need to know the following: 

1.There is a charge of ten cents a page to print. 

2.You will need a debit card, often called a print card, to place in the debit card reader.  Since all of the computers in the library are connected to one printer, there is only one card reader, beside the printer.  All of the computer monitors are numbered.  Make a note of the number of your monitor; you will need it to print your articles.  There are more detailed descriptions of how to retrieve your articles by way of printing, saving to disk, and e-mailing them near the end of this handout.

 RESULTS SCREEN. Total number of results are show as (in this example) 1  - 10 of 46 , 10 displayed per page. Refine your search if you are not satisfied with the results. Citations show the title, author, periodical name date, vol, etc for a particular result . Notes indicate whether ECC actually has the periodical on campus. The Full Text icon indicates whether an article is available online from your computer in HTML or PDF format. To access a PDF document  you will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer.

 ANALYSIS OF A SINGLE EBSCOHOST CITATION. Note in this example the total number of hits/results is only 5. Date, volume, issue of periodical are shown, plus the page the article begins on and the length of article.Notes field tells whether ECC has a paper /microfilm copy of the article.  Type of  full text file is noted as HTML or PDF.

WHEN MORE THAN JUST PERIODICALS ARE AVAILABLE -  Depending on the subject you search, sometimes excerpts from reference books, primary source documents, images, and other types of information are available. This screen shows "All Results" - with all the possible information types available for this particular search. Just click on the particular type you want to access only those files.

 Note that there were 279 total results in the screen above. If one chooses just to look at just one set - Primary Source Documents, for instance, one will get a much smaller set of results, as shown below.

FULL TEXT ARTICLE. If full text is available it starts immediately under the citation and abstract. Full Text articles can be saved to disk, printed out, or e mailed to another computer.

CITATION & ABSTRACT/SUMMARY ONLY. As you explore your results you will note that abstracts vary in length. If NO full text is available check the Notes field - in this case the title IS available at the ECC library. It can be obtained from the Periodicals Desk at the ECC library.

HELP SCREENS & CITING SOURCES. To access the Help screens, click the " Help" button at the top right hand side of the screen.

SELECTING A HELP SCREEN. Note the Content, Index & Search buttons to obtain specific help. Choose help from the menu, for instance "Styles of Citation".

STYLES OF CITATIONS. Select a style depending upon your teacher's instructions.

EXAMPLE OF MLA STYLE. This shows the format plus a sample example. NOTE: The examples using the various styles are not always correct. Consult the MLA Handbook, available at the Reference desk. A simplified handout is also available at the desk and on the library web page.

EBSCOHOST PRACTICE EXERCISES

These exercises will help reinforce what you have learned from the above tutorial. If you are unsure of the correct answers to any of these exercise questions, please consult your teacher or one of the ECC librarians. To complete these exercises, you must print them. To Print, select (highlight) the exercise you want, click File, Print, then Selection in the print box

Exercise 1

I. Directions: Print this exercise and then log on to EbscoHost. Look up a magazine article on the subject of gun control. Then, using the information from the screen, fill in the blanks below.

1. Author of the article (If there is one): _______________________________

2. Title of the article ______________________________________________

3. Date of magazine __________            

    Numberof pages _____

4. Name of magazine _______________________________________________________

II. Directions: Look up a journal article (Hint: Peer Reviewed) on the subject of child development. Then, using the information from the screen, fill in the blanks below.

1. Author of the article (If there is one): _______________________________

2. Title of the article ______________________________________________

3. Date of magazine __________ 

   Number of pages _____

4. Name of magazine _______________________________________________________

III. Directions: Find an article on the subject of capital punishment. Then, using the information from the screen, fill in the blanks below.

1. Author of the article (if there is one) ____________________________________

2. Title of the article ___________________________________________________

3. Date of magazine __________ 

    Number of pages _____

4. Name of magazine _______________________________________________________

IV. IV. Directions: Find an article on the subject of euthanasia. Then, using the information from the screen, fill in the blanks below.

1. Author of the article (if there is one) ____________________________________

2. Title of the article ___________________________________________________

3. Date of magazine __________ 

   Number of pages _____

4. Name of magazine _______________________________________________________

Exercise 2

Print out this exercise and then log on to EbscoHost. You will be on the Basic search screen.

I. SEARCH #1: The long narrow box in the upper left portion of the screen is the search box. It is under the word Find. Type the words volcanic eruptions in the search box. Click Search or press Enter to begin your search.

How many search results were there? _____________

A. RESULTS LIST: Find the article with the title "LIFE IN THE SHADOW OF DEATH."
(It is NOT on the first page!) Click on the title of the article. Scroll down through the article.

How can you tell right away that the full-text article includes images?

How many pictures are there in the article? ___________

B. REFINE SEARCH: Click on the Refine Search button right above the result list. This will take you back to the Keyword Search screen. Your search terms, volcanic eruptions, will still be in the search box. Leave a space after your search terms and type the following words: and Hawaii. Click Search or press Enter.

How many results do you have now? _______

C. E-MAIL: Select the article entitled "Island of Fire", by Lewis.

You are going to e-mail this article to your instructor (first ask your instructor if you should do this). Click E-Mail at the top of the page. Type your instructor's e-mail address in the appropriate space. In the subject box, type Island and then your last name. Click Send. Then click New Search at the upper right of your screen.

II. SEARCH #2: When you reach the New Search screen, enter the search statement children and self esteem in the Find box. Click Search.

How many results are there? _______________

A. REFINE SEARCH: Click on the Refine Search button right above the result list. This will take you back to the Keyword Search screen. Your search statement, children and self esteem, will still be there. Look inside the large box below your search statement, where it says Limit Your Results. Click on the box next to Peer Reviewed. Then click Search.

How many results are there now? ____________

B. PEER REVIEWED: What does Peer Reviewed mean? (If you don't know, click on Help at the upper right of your screen. A box will open on your screen. Look to the left of the box. Click the Index tab . Select Limiters, then Limiters again, then scroll down. You will then see Peer Reviewed defined, or click Search, then type Peer or Peer Reviewed into the search box and hit Enter. You still click on Limiters, then view the results on the right hand side of the screen).

C. PRINT: Choose a full-text article from the Results List and print it. You will hand in this article to your instructor.

What happens to your search results when you add search terms to your search statement?

Why?

What happens when you limit your search, for example, when you require Peer Reviewed?

Why?

Exercise 3

Print out this exercise and answer the questions following the Results list page.

EBSCOHOST RESULTS LIST FOR SEARCH WORD "volcanoes"

Name ________________________________ Date_____

EBSCOHOST EXERCISE USING RESULT LIST

Directions: Answer the following questions using the ten article citations on the EbscoHost result list above for the search term "volcanoes".

1. What is the total number of articles that were retrieved using the search term "volcanoes"? ______________

2. The first ten titles are on this (the first) page of the results list. How can you find the rest of the articles?

____________________________________________________________

3. What can you do to find out what each article is about, whether or not it is available in full-text format?

full-text format? __________________________________________________

4. Fill in the blanks using the correct elements of the citation for article #1:

Author ___________________________________

Title _____________________________________________________________

Name of Magazine or Journal _________________________________________

Volume and Issue Numbers if available _________________________________

Date of Article ______________________________

Page on which article begins _____________________

Number of pages in article _________________

5. Is this article available at the Schauerman (El Camino College) Library? __________

6. Is this article available in full text? ___________

7. There are four ways in which you can obtain this particular article in its complete form. List them below:

a.

b.

c.

d

Prepared by ECC librarians Harris & Striepe (Updated 2005/06)

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