Database & Book Catalog Instruction: Gale

1. Select Gale Power Search (all databases) from the library webpage by clicking on "G" from the A - Z Databases List.

• If working from off-campus, you may be prompted to enter your KCTCS email and password.

2. Gale is a collection of 23 different databases. Before you search by your keywords or search phrase, you will need to select which databases you want to search in. All databases are selected by default. It is fine to leave it this way.

• Gale Academic OneFile is the largest database and covers a broad range of topics. If you want to do a smaller search, choose this database. 

3. Now you are ready to enter your keyword(s) in the search box. I entered the phrase funeral rituals. Click the magnifying glass to see your results.

• The database will auto generate suggested synonyms or related terms. You can select one or keep with your original keywords.

4. You can begin looking for relevant articles from the results page. Results default to showing magazine articles first, but you can change your results to a specific source type, like an academic journal or newspaper, by selecting from the options highlighted by the black box. All results are full-text by default (black arrow) and each result will show the publication date, word length, and type of article (article/book review/editorial) under the article title (black circle). Click on any title to view the article and citation information. 

5. Every article contains helpful tools for citations, emailing the article, downloading to your device, or printing. These are highlighted in the green square. Use the "Get Link" option to get a usable URL for copy/paste. Do not copy/paste the web address from the top URL bar. To continue searching, you can click the back arrow (blue arrow), or browse the "More Like This" or "Related Subjects" area (red square).