If you've ever used Google Scholar, you've likely encountered a page that asks you to pay $39.95 to read the article.
If it is a topic that is of interest to Xavier students, we may have already bought it for you! It might live in our databases as HTML or PDF full text, or on our shelves in print. If we don't own it, libraries have a system in place for sharing resources, and librarians are really good at finding things for you!
Some places you can look for articles or journals we have access to are:
Once you have found something you like, It's important that you know that the little summary you see is NOT the whole article! You need to make sure you are accessing the full-text, which will be presented in one of three ways:
HTML is just the article encoded so that it can be quickly and easily delivered online without having to worry about different types of content. You may lose information related to page numbers or miss out on images, tables, or charts within their original context.
This is a more consistent way to present an article that publishers use to ensure that all who access the content can access the same content.
Often you will see this in Open Access journals. When you find them in the databases they will take you to a list of places where you can access the article itself.
Getting an article may not be as simple and straightforward as you would hope. This can cause some confusion and complication when searching the databases due to the laws, business deals, and ownership of content. The library does its best to ensure access and is continually working to improve the process.
If you reach a dead-end and can't get an article you need, you can fill out an ILL Request and we will check other libraries for access and attempt to get a copy for you.