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   SUBJECT RESEARCH GUIDE |
To start your research, use the resources below or begin with the the CSUDH Library web page found at : http://library.csudh.edu/ . Under the "Find Library Materials" column, select Journal Articles & Electronic Resources. You may either browse by subject area or go to the Alphabetical List if you already know the database resource that you want to use.
The Electronic Resources are available by remote access CSUDH students who have registered for access. Please bring your CSUDH picture ID along with proof of current registraiton to the Library Circulation Department on the 2nd floor of the library. Distance students may register online at https://library.csudh.edu/rparegform.php, but please allow 5 working days for the completion of the online registration process. Please note that ID information will only work using the links provided on the CSUDH Library's web pages.
The Library subscribes to approximately 85 databases covering a wide range of subject areas. To access these databases, go to http://library.csudh.edu and click on the “Journal Articles and Electronic Resources” button. You can then decide for check the alphabetical list or subject list for databases that might be useful for your specific topic. The list below is a selected list, and depending on your specific research needs, additional databases not listed below may also be useful for your topic.
Legal
CQ Weekly can be used to find out about federal legislative news.
Business
ABI/INFORM Global includes indexing and articles for nearly 1,800 in business, finance, economics, management and other business-related topics. It includes the Wall Street Journal.
Business Full Text indexes approximately 850 business magazines trade journals, and scholarly journals.
Business Source Premier covers all areas of business and includes full text articles from over 8,000 publications. Use this database for scholarly journals.
General Databases
Academic Search Premier is a multi-disciplinary database that can be used to search for articles in a wide range of subject areas. Use this database to find articles in journals that are not specific to business and finance.
Newpapers (Proquest) is a database of 150 local and international newspapers. It includes the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and London Times, to name a few.
OmniFile Full Text Mega is a multi-disciplinary database that includes the Business Full Text file and a small Legal Index. To search these files, be sure to highlight these subjects in the Subject Area menu. To highlight the two subject areas, use the “CTRL” key on your keyboard when making your selection.
Locating a Specific Journal Title
If you have a reference or citation to a specific journal article, use the CSUDH Journals List to find out if subscribes to the needed journal. This list includes both print and online journals. The Library currently subscribes to over 27,000 journals online. When you click on the title, you will usually find a page that has separate links for the year of available volumes. Click on the year and then you will next be able to click on specific issues. CSUDH's list also includes links to the ToroFind catalog record for print subscription information.
Although the library provides access to over 27,000 print and electronic journals, the indexing databases provide citations to a large number of journals which are not available in our print and electronic holdings. If you would like to have the library find a copy of an article for you, you can transmit the request using the Interlibrary Loan Service. Please allow at least 10 days for the article to arrive. If at all possible, we will try to send the article to you via email. The files will be .pdf files and will require that you have space available to receive these large files. We are also able to request books through three different methods. Your options are listed on the Request Item from Another Library webpage.
When using information from the web for projects and research papers, you should evaluate the quality and reliability of the information. Here's a link to one of many websites which give you evaluation criteria: Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages. An outstanding search engine to use is Google. In addition, Google Scholar would enable you to search the scholarly literature, including peer reviewed articles, but note that you may not be able to access the full text of the article. For the scholarly literature, the databases listed above in the "Journal Articles & Newspapers" section will usually be a better option for beginning your research.
When writing a paper or completing a project for a class, you will usually be asked to provide a bibliography of the materials that you used. There are several standard guides available in the Library to help you. Please come to the Reference Desk for assistance. In addition, the CSUDH Library has a summary of the formats most commonly used posted on the Library website. Take a look at this guide in advance so you'll know what information you need to jot down before you begin your research. It may be more difficult to retrace your steps than to make bibliographic note cards as you are working on your project.
Citing Your Sources. This web page on How to Cite Your Sources in a Research Paper has two links. The first link takes you to a download page for the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which you will need to access the actual instruction page. The second link leads to a document that shows you how to cite books, articles, and web resources in APA, MLA, and Turabian formats. Always check with your professor to find out which citation format is preferred.