Hi all, I just wrote this in an email to one of you and thought I'd post it here in case others have the same questions.
When you find results in the MLA database, there are a few scenarios for where the article is, if we have access to it, and how you locate it:
1. The article is in full text on the database and a full text document, usually in pdf form, appears with the entry. This is usually highly visible. You can also tell the database to search for full text results only. Click "linked full text" on the left side of the screen when you start your search.
2. The article is available electronically. Click "Linksource" and it will take you to a screen where you can search for the online journal that the article is in. Note: some of these articles will say, "title is not held locally," but some are actually available if you follow the link. I usually click Linksource every time to see whether there's an electronic copy there; it only takes one click and sometimes it's right there! (See #4.)
3. The article is available in print in a book. Usually this is listed as "book chapter" and then the title of the book appears and you can click Linksource and see if we have the book in our print catalog or as an e-book. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't. Since we share a library with 6 others schools, many of our books are not at SU, but arrive in one day; just request delivery to SU. It's super fast.
4. The article is not available in print or online. Many articles say "the title is not held locally" which can mean that our library does not have electronic access to the journal. The library buys some journals but not others. Unfortunately, this is the case with lots of materials, since the database is showing you absolutely everything available for your search in every library in the whole world. We don't have access to everything everywhere. This can be frustrating, but using the linked full text option in your initial search makes this less frustrating!
Laura
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