ProQuest is one of the Library's largest databases and offers current articles in nearly every academic discipline, as well as current affairs and general interest topics. Subject areas include: arts, business, children, education, general interest, health, humanities, international, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women's interests.
Included in the Library's Proquest subscription is access to ProQuest Education Module, ProQuest Law Module, ProQuest Newspapers, ProQuest Psychology Module, and ProQuest Social Sciences Module. Although this guide focuses on the comprehensive ProQuest bundle, please select the proper module for subject specific research.
1. To use ProQuest, begin at the Library homepage and select the link for "Articles & Databases":
2. Select ProQuest from the alphabetical list of databases:
3. The image below shows the main search interface for ProQuest. A number of options exist to limit or expand searches. Some of the most useful options are circled. Moving clockwise from the top left, note 1) three search boxes to allow for multiple, simultaneous keyword searches, 2) a drop down menu with search limiters to specify that searches look in specific fields such as author, title, keyword anywhere, etc., 3) a link to expand to "More Search Options" (see #4 below), 4) the ability to check boxes to limit article results to "Full text documents only" or "Scholarly journals, including peer-reviewed" and 5) the ability to limit articles to a specified date range:
4. Selecting the "More Search Options" link from the main page will expand the number of search options available. Among some of these options, using the "Document type" menu will allow you to limit searches to editorials, cover stories, book reviews, film reviews, etc. while the "Publication type" menu will limit searches to articles that appear in magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, trade reports, etc.:
5. The image below shows an example search. The search boxes are used as you would use a search engine such as Google. The keywords "gun control laws" are being searched in the citation and abstract fields. Additionally, the date range has been specified to return articles published between 2000 and 2008 and also only full text articles are to be returned for the search:
6. The search results are seen in the image below. At this point you will need to scroll through the articles to locate those of interest. Clicking on the title link for any of the articles will take you to the article itself (as will clicking on the "Full text" link). Note the boxes next to each article: checking these boxes will save the articles into the "My Research" folder at the top, allowing you to continue scrolling through the results. The "Suggested Topics" links will be related to the original keyword search and clicking them will generate a new search using the topical terms. This is a good way to narrow down a search by a more specific subject. Finally, you may sort the articles according to the type of document such as magazines, newspapers, etc.:
7. This next image shows the screen after clicking on the title link for the first article in the image above. The circled portions indicate some of the most useful options on this screen. For example, you can use the "Print" link to print out the article, use the "E-mail" link to e-mail it to yourself, or use the "Cite this" link to create a bibliographic citation in APA, Chicago, or MLA, which can then be copied and pasted into a paper (remember to double check for accuracy!). Lastly, the full text of the article begins at the bottom of the screen:
8. If you choose to e-mail an article to yourself, you will have the option of including a citation in the style of your choosing. In case you do not find an article in your inbox, make sure to check your junk mail folder for an article that you have e-mailed to yourself:
9. Looking back at the original screen shot of search results, you will notice the list of "Suggested Topics" on the top portion of the screen. As mentioned previously, clicking on any of these terms will cause the database to generate a new search by looking for articles categorized under those topical terms. For example, selecting the link for "Firearm laws & regulations AND NRA (company/org)" will search for articles in which both of those topics are explored:
10. And then the results from the "Suggested Topics" search:
11. The search examples demonstrated above were set to return full text articles only. If you do not limit your search to "Full text" at the outset, then you may have articles returned for which you have only the abstract and/or citation, and not the full text of the article. Articles 4 through 7 below are examples since they do not show actual links to full text, but rather something called "360 LINK to Full Text":
12. In the screenshot above, articles 4 through 7 show a link named "360 LINK to Full Text". By selecting that link and following the directions in the next screen, you may be able to obtain the article through another Library database. See our guide on Article Linker for a full illustration of this process.
For more information on how to search the Proquest databases, please see their extensive help section.
When doing your homework and research, always feel free to stop by the Library Reference desk to seek assistance from a librarian, call us at (904)-819-6331, or e-mail us at library@flagler.edu for help.