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CENTRAL REFERENCE

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Using the Online Research Resources (ORR) Page

 

Introduction

The Online Research Resources (ORR) page serves as the entry point for the UIUC Library's electronic resources. The ORR can be accessed through the Library Gateway by clicking the link entitled Online Research Resources. The ORR is divided into four basic categories:

Each of these categories can be selected by clicking on the appropriate tab at the top of the ORR page.

Each resource category has three similar search options:

  • Title - Use this if there is a specific resource that you are looking for and you know all or part of the title or an abbreviation of the title. See the Searching by Title section for a fuller explanation of this search option.
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  • Browse - To browse, select the letter or number that the resource title begins with. This will give you an alphabetical listing of resource names that start with that letter.
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  • Subject - Use this option if you have a subject area in mind, but not a specific resource. Select the best match from the subject headings and click it. You should now see an alphabetical list of electronic resources in that subject area. To view resources from multiple subject areas concurrently, first check the Use Multiple Subjects box. Next, check the box beside each relevant subject. Finally, click Browse selected subjects together.

The All Resources category has a fourth unique search option entitled Resource Collections that will be explained in the Searching All Resources section.

Searching Article Indexes & Abstracts

Use this category to find article indexes and abstracts that contain citations from multiple journals. Article indexes and abstracts are a good place to search if you have a topic in mind, but no specific citations. Some article indexes and abstracts focus on specific disciplines, while others are more general in their coverage. The level of full-text content will vary. Article Indexes & Abstracts contains three search options:

Finding specific article indexes and abstracts:

  1. Go to the Online Research Resources page, available from the library’s home page.
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  2. From the Online Research Resources page, select the Article Indexes & Abstracts tab at the top of the page.
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  3. In the Search Index Titles box, type in the title of the article index and abstract that you need and click the Search button. See Searching by Title for more information on this search option.

Browsing article indexes and abstracts:

A second option is to use the Browse Indexes Alphabetically feature. To browse:

  1. Select the letter or number that the article index and abstract title begins with.
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  2. Locate your database by scrolling through the resulting alphabetical list of article indexes and abstracts.

Locating article indexes and abstracts by subject:

You can also look through a list of article indexes and abstracts on a particular subject. To do this:

  1. Scroll down to Article Index and Abstract Subjects.
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  2. Select the best match from the subject headings and click it. You should now see an alphabetical list of article indexes and abstracts in that subject area.  
  3. To view article indexes and abstracts from multiple subject areas concurrently, first check the Use Multiple Subjects box. Next, check the box beside each relevant subject. Finally, click Browse selected subjects together.

Searching Journals & Newspapers

Use this category to find individual electronic journals and newspapers. Each electronic journal will contain some full-text coverage, but may not cover all the years of a journal's existence or even all articles within a given issue. Journals & Newspapers contains three search options:

Finding specific journal titles:

  1. Go to the Online Research Resources page, available from the library’s home page.
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  2. On the Online Research Resources page, select the Journals & Newspapers tab at the top of the page.  
  3. In the Search Journal or Newspaper Titles box, type in the title of the journal that you need and click the Search button. See Searching by Title for more information on this search option.

Browsing journal titles:

A second option is to use the Browse Journals or Newspapers Alphabetically feature. To browse:

  1. Select the letter or number that the journal title begins with.  
  2. Locate the desired journal by scrolling through the resulting alphabetical list of journals and newspapers.

Locating journals by subject:

You can also look through a list of journals on a particular subject. To do this:

  1. Scroll down to Journal and Newspaper Subjects.  
  2. Select the best match from the subject headings and click it. You should now see an alphabetical list of electronic journals in that subject area.  
  3. To view electronic journals from multiple subject areas concurrently, first check the Use Multiple Subjects box. Next, check the box beside each relevant subject. Finally, click Browse selected subjects together.

If you can’t find the e-journal you need, please keep in mind that many journals are still only available on paper. Try the UIUC Online Catalog, or Ask A Librarian.

Searching Reference Tools

Use this category to find electronic reference tools such as encyclopedias and directories. Reference Tools contains three search options:

Finding specific reference tool titles:

  1. Go to the Online Research Resources page, available from the library’s home page.  
  2. On the Online Research Resources page, select the Reference Tools tab at the top of the page.  
  3. In the Search Reference Tool Titles box, type in the title of the reference tool that you need and click the Search button. See Searching by Title for more information on this search option.

Browsing reference tool titles:

A second option is to use the Browse Reference Tools Alphabetically feature . To browse:

  1. Select the letter or number that the reference tool title begins with.  
  2. Locate the reference tool by scrolling through the resulting alphabetical list of reference tools.

Locating reference tools by subject:

You can also look through a list of reference tools on a particular subject. To do this:

  1. Scroll down to Reference Tool Subjects.  
  2. Select the best match from the subject headings and click it. You should now see an alphabetical list of reference tools in that subject area.  
  3. To view reference tools from multiple subject areas concurrently, first check the Use Multiple Subjects box. Next, check the box beside each relevant subject. Finally, click Browse selected subjects together.

Another source for reference tools through the UIUC Library is the Online Reference Collection.

Searching All Resources invisible

Use this category to search through all online resources. This is especially helpful when you are not sure which specific category a particular resource falls under. Your total number of results, however, will generally be greater than with similar searches in other categories. All Resources also contains a unique search feature called Resource Collections. See below for further information. All Resources contains four search options:

Finding any specific title:

  1. Go to the Online Research Resources page, available from the library’s home page.  
  2. On the Online Research Resources page, select the All Resources tab at the top of the page.  
  3. In the Search All Online Resource Titles box, type in the title of the resource that you need and click the Search button. See Searching by Title for more information on this search option.

Browsing all titles:

A second option is to use the Browse All Online Resources Alphabetically feature. To browse:

  1. Select the letter or number that the resource title begins with.
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  2. Locate the resource by scrolling through the resulting alphabetical list of resources.

Locating any resource by subject:

You can also look through a list of resources on a particular subject. To do this:

  1. Scroll down to All Online Resource Subjects.  
  2. Select the best match from the subject headings and click it. You should now see an alphabetical list of electronic resources in that subject area.  
  3. To view electronic resources from multiple subject areas concurrently, first check the Use Multiple Subjects box. Next, check the box beside each relevant subject. Finally, click Browse selected subjects together.

Locating resources by collection title:

The All category also contains a Resource Collections search option. This is located at the bottom of the screen. Resource Collections groups journals and other resources by vendor collection. For example, by selecting EBSCO Business Source Premier from the drop-down box, one can view a listing of the over 5,000 individual journals contained within that collection.

Interpreting Your Results

Things to keep in mind about your search results:

  • Some journals will be available full-text from multiple sources. When selecting, note the years of coverage that each source provides. The ORR is designed so that the journal version that is most frequently accessed by users will appear first on the results list. This will often be the version that provides the best level of access and coverage.

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  • The right side of each journal entry (and some reference tools) will tell you if the library has (or had) a print or microform subscription to the journal. If so, there will be a link to the online catalog record. This is especially helpful for locating older issues that have not been digitized.

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  • Every resource has an About link beside its title. The About link provides additional information about each resource including descriptions, subject headings, etc. There is also a link for reporting access problems.

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  • Many online resources are available off-campus only to persons affiliated with UIUC. In those cases, off-campus users will often be required to enter their UIUC NetID and Password to gain access. Most UIUC online resources can be readily accessed through on-campus computers. If you have any access problems please Ask A Librarian.

Searching by Title

When performing a title search in any of the search categories, you are given three options:

Title Keywords:

Title Keywords enables you to locate resources using partial titles. For instance, typing the terms"biological chemistry" results in multiple resources that include those two keywords such as the Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. Note also that the order of the terms doesn't matter, "chemistry biological" retrieves the same results as "biological chemistry."

Start of Title:

Start of Title is designed to search for resources that begin with the terms that you enter and in the order that you enter them. Accordingly, if you wanted to locate the Journal of American History a search for "journal of american" retrieves this title (and other journals starting with those words), but a search for "american history" or "journal of history" does not.

Title Abbreviations:

Title Abbreviations allows you to search for resources using official or unofficial abbreviations of the title (e.g. j biol chem). This is especially useful when attempting to locate journals that have been cited in abbreviated form in endnotes or footnotes. As a general rule, letters and words must be entered in the order in which they occur in the title. For example, searching for "j biol chem" results in The Journal of Biological Chemistry and the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry, but entering "jrnl biol chem" or "j chem biol" returns zero results. Also note that results may include more, but not less, terms than those entered. In the preceeding example, for instance, "j biol chem" returned multiple results, but "j biol in chem" only retrieves the Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry.

Getting Additional Help

If you have questions about Online Research Resources, please use the Ask A Librarian service.