Introduction
to Kanawha County Public Library Electronic Databases
Accessing and Using EBSCO Database
EBSCO databases are full-text magazine databases covering
subjects including general reference, business, education, children's information,
science, multi-cultural issues, health and much more.
Step 1: After opening Internet Explorer, type in this Web address to open the Kanawha Public Library Web site: http://kanawha.lib.wv.us
Step 2: Click on the button that reads Research Tools to open the Research Tools page.
Step 3: Click on the topic that says Database Guide. This will open a new page with a list of all the electronic databases that KCPL subscribes to.
Step 4: The database that we will look at is EBSCO. Click on EBSCO in the list of databases. Read about the EBSCO Database.
Step 5: After reading about EBSCO, click on Visit EBSCO.
Step 6: A new page will open that asks for your library card number. Remote access to EBSCO's database is permitted to patrons of KCPL. Enter you library card number if you have it. If not, you may enter 2000123456 or 2000987654 or 2000654321. This will open a new page with five options.
Step 7: Click on EBSCO host Databases. This will open a page with a long, alpha list of all the single databases you can access through EBSCO. Click on MasterFILE Premier.
Step 8: To view a list of all the titles in MasterFILE Premier, click on Publications. Click on a title in the list to read details for that publication and what years of the publication are in the database.
Step 9: Click on the tab near the top of the screen that says Basic Search. This will take you to the MasterFILE Premier search screen.
Step 10: Type in a keyword(s) for a topic you would like to search for. You can narrow your search results by specifying certain search criteria. For this session, limit your search results to only full-text articles (as opposed to full-text and abstract inclusively) by selecting the box beside Full Text after typing in your keyword(s). Then click the Search button.
Step 11: You should have a list of articles to choose from. If you click on the title of the article, you will go to a page with a complete bibliographic record (for citation purposes), an abstract (summary of the article), and the full-text of the article. However, if you click on HTML Full Text, your bibliographic data will be more limited, there will be no abstract, BUT you WILL see the full-text article. Its a matter of your preference and need.
Step 12: You can narrow your results further by selecting one or more of the following options listed horizontally above the list of articles: Periodicals, Newspapers, Reference Books, Pamphlets, Primary Source Documents, Images.
NOTE: FYI - Basic MLA citation format for
electronic database follows this example:
Phillips, Charles. A DAY TO REMEMBER April 22, 1889. American History 39.1
(2004): 16-20. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. Insert library name, City,
State. 24 May. 2004 <http://search.epnet.com>.
(Instead of footnotes or endnotes, the author's last name and page number(s)
are placed in parentheses within the body of the text.)