1. To search ALL 37 EBSCO databases, select EBSCOhost (all databases) from the library webpage by clicking on the letter "E" from the A - Z Databases webpage.
If you would like to focus your results from resources about a specific topic such as agriculture, business, or sociology, browse the A-Z databases list and look for databases that have (EBSCOhost) beside the database name.
- Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) is our most popular database and is a great place to start. It provides articles from magazines, trade publications, peer-reviewed journals and more. Academic Search Complete covers all topics.
- Look for the
button for a short video and step by step instruction on how to search the database.
2. All EBSCOhost databases begin with the main search page. You can always enter your keywords and press Enter or the magnifying glass, but there are some important limiters to use that will make your results more relevant.
- Using two or three keywords or a phrase for your search is recommended.
- The full-text button is the default and if it is blue, all your results will have the full article and not just the citation. Do not click this button. You want it blue.
- You can limit to only have Peer-Reviewed or 'scholarly' articles in your results by selecting that button. Find out more about Peer-Reviewed articles - what they are and when to use them.
- You can limit your results by date with the drop-down button.
3. Your results page will feature tools to help refine your searching. Let's look at the results for the search impact of native trees.
- First - click the blue 'Got it' button to remove that box.
- You can see the number of results at the top of your results, shown by the red circle.
- You can also identify the source type above the title of your article.
- Filter your source types (academic journals, magazines, trade publications, etc.) with the Source type drop down button.
- Find ONLY peer reviewed articles by selecting the button under your search terms.
- If you have too many results, add another keyword or rethink your search terms.
- If you have too few results, remove the "Natural language search" by clicking the white check mark on the teal button.
4. Let's look at an article. Title, author(s), date, publisher can be found at the top.
- Select the Access options drop down to get the full article either .pdf or in your web browser. You can also download the resource.
- Scroll down to find important information such as: abstract, document type, and author-supplied keywords.
5. Click on your preferred access option to access the full-text .pdf file. The article will provide helpful tools such as a citation generator, share, and download option.
Need help? Select the blue chat button to chat with a librarian during operating hours or email ECTCLibrary@kctcs.edu anytime.
