E-Journal Packages

Proper Use of Journal Packages

Journal packages should not be used to find articles on a subject. Topic searches should be done in a journal database (abstract and index). Journal packages should only be used to find already identified articles in full-text, or to follow issues of a particular journal.

The reasons for the above statements are:

1. Journal packages usually contain 100s of journals, while journal databases index and/or abstract 1000s of journals, so you get a more extensive search with a journal database.
2. Journal databases have more sophisticated search features, so you can do a more tailored search in them, then in journal packages.
3. If a publisher has an agenda, that bias may be reflected in some or all of the titles in a journal package, thus you would only get one perspective on a topic.

 Appropriate uses of journal packages are:

1. Finding a full-text article that is not available in a journal database. Many times the Find Full Text link in an article record in a journal database will take you directly to a journal package. If it does not, you can search for the journal title in the catalog and then find the link to the correct journal package.
2. Setting up a journal alert so that you will get an email every time a new issue of a journal is posted in the journal package. Most journal packages allow you to create a personal account in which you can create journal and other kinds of alerts. For more information,  see the Email Alerting Services webpage.

Recommended Journal Packages

The SAGE Journals Online database indexes over 220 full-text journals; UNT has access to ~165 of them. When searching, limit the search to SAGE content available to me. You will see on the search results page whether you have access to a particular article. The SAGE Full-Text Collections include geography, geology, GIS, archaeology, urban studies and earth and environmental sciences.

ScienceDirect provides full text access to over 1800 journals from Elsevier and Academic Press, representing all areas of science, medicine, and technology, as well as inter-disciplinary titles. Coverage is from 1995 to current, but some titles in physics, chemistry, and mathematics begin with volume 1, regardless of the year.

SpringerLink

Access to all Springer-Verlag journal titles in full text. Over 1,250 fully peer-reviewed journals and more than 10,000 books online. Subjects included are earth and environmental sciences, life sciences, and chemistry.

Wiley Online Library

Full text access from 1997 to current to over 350 Wiley journals on a variety of subjects, including earth science, environmental science, geology, climatology and meteorology, and more. Synergy (Blackwell) titles were merged into Wiley Interscience during Summer 2008.