Research Guides & Tutorials: Using the Library Catalogue: Journal Search

Journal Search

Journals are a good resource for current scholarship on topics since they are published regularly throughout the year. Journal articles are much shorter than books whose longer format is often better suited to a thorough explanation and discussion of a subject.

The journal search allows you to determine if the library subscribes to a journal, and if so, in what formats. For example, you may find a citation in your research for a journal article that the library doesn't have full text access to online. However, we may have full text access in the library in print.

Searching for Journals

Go to the journal search and enter the name of a journal. This example uses Horizons in Biblical Theology.

If the library has access in print, you will see information in the Available section; if the library has access online, you will see information in the Online access section about which years are covered:

screenshot of journal search for "horizons in biblical theology" with print availability and online coverage information highlighted

Clicking the Available at Ambrose Library or Online access links brings you into the record where you can see more details on where the library houses various back issues.

The View Online section shows that the library has:

Full text availability online through 2 different databases (Academic Search Complete and ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS, both of which are hosted on the EBSCO platform).

The Locations section shows that the library has:

The current year on display;
Volumes 8-21 on microfiche; and
Volumes 1-7 and 22-present in bound periodicals.

screenshot of journal page showing which issues are available online and which are available in the library's print collections

If you want to access an article in Horizons in Biblical Theology from the last 5 years, you will need to look for it in bound periodicals. Consult the library map to learn where different collections are located in the library, or ask a library staff member for help!

Let's take a closer look at the links in the View Online section.

The library has full text access to this journal through 2 databases, although ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials PLUS has far more coverage (1979-5 years ago). Click either of the links to view the journal on the EBSCO platform.

screenshot of item record with the View Online section highlighted and the 2 database links visible

This is the page you'll be brought to when you click the ATLA link in the View Online section. There are some useful tools and information to note:

Use the Search within this publication to search for article titles, keywords, phrases, authors, etc. within Horizons in Biblical Theology.
Click the years under All Issues and Articles to drill down to specific issues and see the articles in those issues.
Note the Coverage Details that shows that all years (up until the present) are indexed but that the most recent 60 months (5 years) are not available in full text. Indexed means that there are references or citations to the articles available, but not the full text.
Note that the journal Horizons in Biblical Theology is peer reviewed.

screenshot of journal details screen in ATLA highlighting "search within this publication," "all issues and articles" list, "peer review" status, and coverage details

Browsing Journals by Category

If you don't have a journal title in mind, you can instead browse journal titles by category or topic. Click a category in the left-hand menu to see everything there, or click the arrows beside them to see the narrower categories. Results are shown alphabetically by journal title: