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Normally, as you research a topic, you take a subject approach. What if you are trying to find periodicals (magazines, journals, trade publications) that cover specific topic areas? There are several ways to find out.
1) From the Library's Electronic Resources page, use the GREEN box to Browse e-journals by Subject.
2) Once you have identified a title, link to the database that covers it. Often you will be able to set up an Alert to receive future Tables of Contents of issues as they are indexed and added to the database.
3) See if the link to the database includes a URL for the journal homepage. Set up an Alert there - should be faster than waiting for the database alert
4) The steps above only take care of connecting you with the periodicals to which ISU subscribes. Use Ulrich's Periodicals Directory to search among more than 300,000 publications. Use Ulrich's Advanced Search to set up all of your parameters. Entries will include links to Journal/Publisher home pages, where indexed, etc.
5) Print source: Magazines for Libraries, available at Reference Z 6941 .K2 2010
The library subscribes to 1,500 PRINT magazine, journal and newspapers, but also provides access to MORE THAN 49,000 FULL-TEXT electronic journals, magazines, trade publications, newspapers, newsletters, and wire services. Finding a few articles to support your speech should be easy but the sheer quantity of online sources available and the many different ways of searching can make it very frustrating -- what words do you use to search? where do I search? can't I find these articles out on the Internet thru Google? Answer to last question: not very often, and you'll spend too much time searching for the little you'll find. MOST articles are still copyrighted and owned by the publishers, who are not putting them out on the web for general consumption. Therefore, you find an article database, plug in your words and phrases, look for ways the database allows you to limit your search [many more than Google], and in a fairly short period of time, you should be able to find what you need.
For the media researcher, after you enter your words/phrases, most databases allow you to choose a Field in which to search. Choose TITLE. Often, if your words/phrases are in the TITLE of the ARTICLE, it indicates that the focus of the article is really about YOUR topic. Some databases let you choose TYPE of article as well, such as 'Feature' [good for informative], 'Opinion' or 'Editorial' [good for persuasive].
Lastly, what happens if you are using a database, you find an article CITATION but can't locate the FULL-TEXT? Look for the CHECK FOR AVAILABILITY link. Your article MAY be in another of our databases, it may be in one of the remaining PRINT periodicals, or we may not have it, in which case, you'll want to consider INTERLIBRARY LOAN, but ONLY if you are researching in advance, so the Library has time to try to acquire the article from another library.
The Databases listed here are good general-topic/all-topic places to start. Inquire about additional databases based upon your particular need and the Librarians will be able to advise you on where to go next!
