Module 3:
SD Library Network
How to Access SDLN
How to Search SDLN
Examples and Practice :
1. SDLN Screen
2. Activity 1
3. Search Techniques
4. Activity 2
5. Activity 3
6. Activity 4
7. Activity 5
8. Activity 6
9. Activity 7
10. Advanced Features

Contents:
Introduction
Module 1: How to Solve an Information Problem
Module 2: Search Techniques
Module 4: Proquest
Module 5: Infotrac
Module 6: Lexis-Nexis
Module 7: OCLC Firstsearch
Module 8: 
Module 9: 
Module 10: 
Module 11: Internet Searching
Module 12: Evaluating Internet sources
Module 13: Scholarly vs. Popular
Module 14: Citing sources
Module 15: How to Get Material Not Available Online

Module 3: SDLN Examples and Practice: Activity 3

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In this activity,
you will use Boolean operators and truncation,
will search a different database,
and will learn more about interpreting the results.

You will need to switch back and forth between SDLN (to do the activity) and this manual (for instructions). Or you might find it more convenient to print this web page -- "SDLN Examples and Practice: Activity 3" -- so that you can remain in SDLN as you read and follow the instructions for the activity.

Solve the problem by performing each of the following steps in the South Dakota Library Network.

1. To go to the "Select Library and Resource" screen,

• click on the "Change Library or Database" button

found near the bottom of most SDLN screens.

2. This time you will be looking for magazine articles on gun violence in schools, so you will need to select a periodical index (an index to articles published in magazines and journals).

An index to articles in education such as ERIC Journals in Education would be a good place to start. To select the ERIC Journals in Education index (on the "Select Library & Resource" screen),

• click on the radio button beside "Journals in Education"

• and then click on the "Go" button

3. You should now be looking at the "Search Journals in Education" screen.

• Search for articles about gun violence by typing the search topic in the "for what" box like this:

gun# and violence

Note: "gun#" will search for gun or guns. The term "schools" is not used in the search because it is unnecessary in an education index.

The "by" should remain "keyword" and the "where" should remain "Dakota State University."

• Click on the "Go" button.

4. To limit the results to articles published after 1989,

• click on the "Limit Search" button

5. To limit "by publication year," in the "after the year" box,

• type:

1989

• and then click on the "Go" button

6. To display the titles of the first 20 items in the list,

• click on the "Go" button

7. To display the first item on the list,

• click on the number 0001

8. Examine the "Location" line of item 1.

For items at Dakota State University, the following are typical locations:

Periodicals
-- may be found in print format in the Periodicals Collection on the first floor of the library. [Note: To check whether the library has the specific issue of the magazine or journal in which the article appears, you will need to click on the "Display Holdings" button.]
Proquest
-- may be found in electronic format in Proquest, an online search tool (information service) listed under "Search Tools" on the library home page.
Microfilm/Microfiche
-- may be found in the microfilm or microfiche cabinets on the first floor of the library.
LIBRARY does not own citation title
-- means that the library does not have the item (but the Mundt Library will get it from another library for DSU students, faculty or staff).

9. Examine the other lines of item number 1.

The author, title and journal lines provide you with the information you need to find the article in the library or to have your library obtain the article for you.

The abstract will help you evaluate the usefulness of the article.

The descriptors are subject headings that may suggest to you other words or phrases to search such as "school security" or "weapons."

10. If you search the ERIC Journals in Education index (database) for "gun# and violence" but choose a library different from Dakota State University's, the number of items found will be the same. That's because periodical indexes such as ERIC Journals in Education are designed to tell you what articles have been published in a selected list of journals (not which articles are at a particular library).

However, a nice feature of SDLN is that it does indicate whether the magazine in which the article appears is owned by the library being searched.

11. You may find out which other libraries have the articles on gun violence by changing the the library searched from Dakota State University to all SDLN libraries.

• First, to return to the search screen for ERIC Journals in Education: click on the "New Search" button near the bottom of the SDLN screen.

• Second, to change the "where" on the search screen to "All SDLN libraries," use the "where" scrollbar and highlight "all SDLN libraries" at the top of the list.

• Third, in the "for what" box, type: gun# and violence
  and click on the "Go" button.

• Fourth, as you did in the earlier search, limit the results to items published after 1989:
  Click on the "Limit Search" button.
  Enter 1995 in the "after the year" box.
  Click the "Go" button.

• Fifth, to display the first 20 items, click the "Go" button.

• Sixth, to display the first item,
  click on the number "0001"

• Note that the "Location" line now shows all the libraries (their 3-letter codes) which have the magazine in which the article is published. The code for Dakota State University is DSU.
  The "Submit ILL Request" button, near the bottom of the screen, may be used to request a copy of the article if it is not at DSU's library.

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