Searching
in Education Plus
Education
Plus is an online database that tracks down articles in hundreds of education
journals going back to 1986. For all
articles, it will at least identify the author, title, journal name, date and
pages, as well as include an abstract.
For approximately 170 of the journals, it will also include the full
text of the article right on the screen.
This added feature covers recent issues of these journals, from
approximately 1997 to the present.
To
access Education Plus from the University of Akron library’s Gateway to
Information screen:
-
click
on “Articles, Indexes and Databases”
-
click
on the category “Social Sciences”
-
scroll
down the screen and click on “Education Plus Text”
1) You
are now on the “guided” search screen.
2) Before
you start searching, break your topic down into its key concepts.
-
For
example, the topic of “reading instruction to special education students”
includes two key concepts: reading
instruction AND special education students
3) Search
on each one of the concepts in a separate search window.
-
In
the first window, type “reading
instruction”
Note in the accompanying window
that the computer will search for your term in “all” fields or locations where
your term might appear. You can select
a more specific location to search if you like.
SEARCH
TIP: Searching on a broader term, say
“reading,” might get you different results.
-
In
the second window, type “special education.”
1)
At
the bottom of the screen, select the date range in which you are interested –
Current (1999 to Present) or Backfile (1986-1998).
2)
Click
on the “Search” button to execute the search.
3)
Your
computer should display brief references to the articles it found, starting
with the most recent.
-
Each
reference should include an author (if any), title, magazine,
date, volume, issue, and pages.
4)
The
icons to the left of the article reference tell you how much information is
available. Click on the icon for the
option you want.
-
A
half-page icon means that only an abstract of the article is available.
-
A
full-page icon (with or without a camera on top) means that the whole article
is there.
-
A
camera icon indicates that the exact image of the article is available on
screen.
NOTE:
Clicking on the full-page icon lets you either PRINT or email the
article.
5)
After
clicking on the full-page icon, the article will display on the screen.
-
To
PRINT, click on the print button at the top of the screen and follow the
directions.
-
To
EMAIL, click on the email button at the top and fill out the required email
address.
6)
To
View the exact image of the article (by clicking the camera icon), your
computer will need to have Adobe Acrobat READER software
installed on it. This is freely
available on the Web at: http://www.adobe.com
.
-
NOTE: If you select to view the exact image of the
article, you will ONLY be able to print the article or read it on screen. You will NOT be able to email it.
7)
You
can also mark the brief references that interest you as you are scanning them.
-
Simply
click in (checkmark) the “Mark Article” box at the top of the reference.
8)
After
marking all of the references of interest, you can click on “Results” at the
top of the screen, then “Marked List and Durable Links.”
-
The
list of marked references will appear.
-
You
can either EMAIL the articles or abstracts to yourself, or you can PRINT the
LIST of brief references.
Edplustxt.doc
8/07/01