Mathematics: Journals/Articles

How do I find journals?

The Library holds journals in either print or electronic formats. There are several ways to find out if UNO has a particular journal:

• If you know the name of the journal you're looking for, search the Library Catalog using our "Browse Search" function located on the right side of the screen, under "Catalog Searches." At the next screen, type the journal's title in the search box and click "periodical title." From the results list, just select the journal you were looking for.

• If you don't know exactly what you're looking for, try searching the Library Catalog by entering "mathematics periodicals" in the search box next to the "subject" option and clicking search. This should give you an idea of some of the journals that UNO has in your subject area.

• Alternately, you can browse and search only those journals that UNO has access to electronically by going to our E-journals page. From there you can search for a specific journal by name. To browse journals by subject, just click on the "Subject" tab at the top of the screen, then select "Science" from the drop-down menu and "Mathematics" on the following screen. The results list will include both mathematics and computer science journals.

How do I find journal articles?

The best way to find articles on topics in mathematics is to go to the Library's Mathematics Database List. Any of the databases on this list will provide you with a list of articles on whatever topic you're interested in. Not all of the articles retrieved from these databases will necessarily be available full-text online so if you run into that situation, figure out which journal the article is in and use the directions above to see if UNO has that journal in print or electronically.

There are also a few print indexes available which list past and current articles being published in mathematics. Try:

• Mathematical reviews, 1940-present
  QA1 .M76, Floor 2 Aisle 2
• Current mathematical publications, 1975-present
  QA1 .C75, Floor 2 Aisle 2

Can I access Library databases from off-campus?

Yes you can, when you click on a database name, you'll be taken to a screen that looks like this. Follow the directions to log-in. If you don't know your PIN or have never set up a PIN, go to our Remote Access page,  learn how this works, and set up your PIN for access. 

What if the Library does not have the materials I need?

Try our Interlibrary Loan service! Request the book or article through our iLLiad system and we'll get the book or article from another library for you for free.

Database searching is a repetitive learning exercise; the more you practice, the better you get. Many databases function similarly: a basic search engine plus a set of relatively sophisticated limiting functions. 

Search interfaces have common features: the ability to search for topics by a keyword (like using Google), an author, the title of an article, a review, or a specific subject. The search parameters can sometimes be specialized according to subject matter indexed by a particular database.  One of the most important things you can do to learn about a database is to check the section (often in upper right-hand corner) labelled 'Help'. It will often define the terms you see listed in a database, and once you learn them you will find they are common to many databases.

Common limits you will see include ways to restrict your search to a specific time period, i.e. 2002- to the present, to filter out peer-reviewed from popular materials, to a certain journal, to a specific author, or publisher. All of these can be profitably used to narrow your search to retrieve high-quality citations and articles for your research. For help in database searching, please contact me (contact information on the right)   or contact the library's reference service via email or chat. 

Evaluating and re-evaluating search results gives you ideas for refining your search and retrieving more targeted results. Scan the titles of the articles in your search result list. Note any subjects included in the description. For an article that has a promising title, click on it and check the abstract--that will give you a good idea of the scope of the article. Is it entirely appropriate or partially appropriate to your research topic? You can profit from both varieties, but at the beginning of your search process, it is best to focus on articles that you can use in its entirety.

Connecting to full text is your next task. Many databases will offer you a link to the full text, but it isn't always available in every database. There are several options, in that case. The first is to check our catalog and find the journal in print. Using the citation from the database (you can often email yourself the full citation, sometimes in your preferred citation style), you can search the catalog and locate the item in the 2nd floor Periodical stacks. Copiers are located on the 1st and 2nd floors.

If UNO does not own the book or article you need you can use UNO's Interlibrary Loan service. Click on 'Frist Time Users' to create your personal account. Typical transit times are 7-10 days for printed materials and 1-4 days for online items. 

For help in searching, finding and using complete citations and questions about how to obtain materials, chat with a librarian online  or contact me, Hannah White at 504-280-6548 and jwhite15@uno.edu.