Chapter 1: Searching for a Specific Publication

Chapter Sections:

• Searching for a Specific Publication
• Searching Within a Specific Publication
• Scanning Table of Contents 
• Searching Within Databases 
• Additional Database Search Strategies 

The library offers access to many sources that are not available for free on the internet.  The following videos demonstrate how to find and use these sources.

Searching for a Specific Publication

Once you’ve identified a publication important for your field or research, you’ll want to find out which library database, if any, houses that publication.

1. Go to the UW-Madison Libraries homepage
2. Select “Journals” from the drop-down menu above the search box
3. Type the name of the journal in the search box  (change drop-down from “Keywords” to “Title”, if desired) and select the “Submit” button.
4. Scan the results and select the name of the journal you’d like to look at. You’ll see both physical and electronic access options, when available, in the record.

Searching Within a Specific Publication

Once you have found a specific publication in a database, you can perform searches within that publication, to see what that publication says about a topic. For example, you might want to survey what the Wall Street Journal has published about solar power in the past five years.

1. Click on the database you have chosen to use
2. Look on the Publication Page for your journal within the database for a link, or even a search box on that page, to search ONLY within that journal
3. Search for a term or subject of your choice to see if this publication covers the topic
4. Note that you can sort your results from most recent to least recent, to get a sense of coverage over time or simply to focus on their most recent coverage

Scanning Tables of Contents

Looking through the tables of contents of multiple issues is a good way to understand what kinds of topics a publication covers. If you’re looking at a trade publication, it’s also a good way to learn about topics under discussion in that industry.

1. Perform a journal search for your publication and find the Publication Page for your journal within the database
2. Look on the Publication Page for a list of available Issues by date.
3. Choose the issue you are interested in by clicking on it.
4. Scan the list of articles for that issue (the table of contents) to get an idea of the content contained in that journal

Searching Within Databases

Additional Database Search Strategies