Each database presents its information in a different way.  Here are tips to help you when searching any database.

• Do you know what you're looking for, or do you have no idea?  If you're not sure about what you're looking for, use the General Keyword field so that your search is very wide.
  
  
• If you know that your topic might give a lot of results, limit your terms to a specific field, such as the Title field.  This will make your search results more focused.
  
  
• Databases format Author Names differently.  Look at how the names appear:  is it full first name, last name? First name, intitial?  Does the database use a comma between the last name and the first name?  If the database has an author thesaurus or index for authors, you should use it--it can save you time and frustration trying to think of all the variations of an author's name.
  
  
• It is often better to build your search in steps, and then combine them.  If the database has a search history feature, it will show you each of your previous searches and allow you to mix and match them without doing a lot of retyping.

There are several options for getting the full text of an article.

• Some databases have little icons next to the article that indicate you can get the full-text by clicking on them. 

• If you don't see one of those full-text icons, look for the JHU SFX link. (It looks slightly different from database to database, but will work the same way.) This link will take you to a screen that lists your options for gettting the article--there will be a link to the full text if we own that year online.  If we do not, we might own it print, so choose "search the library catalog" to find out where the journal is.

• If there is no full-text icon in the database next to your article, check the JHU Libraries catalog to see if we own the year of the journal that contains your article. If we do, you can photocopy it.

• You might have luck using Google Scholar to find journal articles, but be careful: sometimes the link will be just a citation in someone else's paper, or the link will take you to a journal that you can't access because your library doesn't subscribe to it.
  
  
  NOTE:  Most search engines do *not* index most articles that are in databases. Don't rely exclusively on web search engines or you will miss articles that might be important to your research.

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Because your research is multidisciplinary, you will need to search databases that focus on different subject areas.  How do you find the most appropriate databases?

• Go to the library's page that lists databases By Subject. Choose the link for Medicine or Psychology or other subject, and you will see a list of databases that index articles in that field.
  
  
• At the top of that same By Subject page is a link to Multidisciplinary and General References.  These databases index articles from a broad range of fields. Start with ACADEMIC SEARCH PREMIERE, GENERAL SCIENCES FULL TEXT, or SOCIAL SCIENCES FULL TEXT.

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