UC MERCED LIBRARY TUTORIALS
Finding a Known Item
Use the right arrow at the bottom of this window to move through the tutorial.
This tutorial will show you how to find the full-text of an article using the citation (author, article title, journal title, etc.) in Academic Search Complete, Google Scholar, Melvyl, and the e-Journal finder.
Use the active webpage on your right to complete the tutorial.
Knowing how to find known items is a handy skill to have if your instructor asks you to find a specific article to read for class. You may also want to locate articles listed in the bibliographies of textbooks or class readings.
As long as you have the citations, you can nearly always find known items using search tools available on the library home page.
This is an example of an article citation.
NOTE: Citations are sometimes called references.
Rebhun, L. A. (1994). A heart too full: The weight of love in Northeast Brazil. Journal of American Folklore, 107(423), 167.
How do I read a citation?
The format of citations may vary, but they will always include an article title and a journal title.
The search box on the library home page has three search tools to help you find known items using the article title: Academic Search Complete, Google Scholar, and Melvyl.
We’ll use the previous citation example to search using the article title. See the title below in bold.
Academic Search Complete is a popular library database.
To search for the article in Academic Search Complete:
NOTE: When you click Go, a new tab or window will open for Academic Search Complete, and you won't see the tutorial in the left sidebar. Clicking the tutorial tab will bring you back to the tutorial.
What is UC-eLinks?
What is Interlibrary Loan (ILL)?
Google Scholar is a web search engine that helps you find scholarly publications including books, articles, theses, court opinions, etc.
To search for the article in Google Scholar:
NOTE: When you click go, a new tab or window will open for Google Scholar, and you won't see the tutorial in the left sidebar. Clicking the tutorial tab will bring you back to the tutorial.
NOTE: You may need to click More > UC-eLinks for some articles to access the full-text or to request the article through interlibrary loan.
Melvyl is the catalog for all 10 University of California campus libraries.
To search for the article in UC Libraries Catalog (Melvyl):
NOTE: When you click Go, a new tab or window will open for Melvyl, and you won't see the tutorial in the left sidebar. Clicking the tutorial tab will bring you back to the tutorial.
Note: You may need to note the year, volume, and issue in the article record in case you need to navigate to the article by selecting the appropriate year > volume > issue > article title/page number. You may also paste in the article title in the search box at the top of the page next to "In This Title".
Journal titles can also be used to locate known items. When you use this method you may also need to know the year of publication, volume, issue, and page number. See the information below in bold.
NOTE: When you click Go, a new tab or window will open for the e-Journal finder, and you won't see the tutorial in the left sidebar. Clicking the tutorial tab will bring you back to the tutorial.
NOTE: Some articles are more difficult to find than others. If you need help finding a known item, please contact the library at library@ucmerced.edu or call 209-228-4444.
REMINDER: You must be on the UC Merced campus or connected to the campus network with the VPN to access the full-text of articles as demonstrated in this tutorial.
What is the VPN?
This concludes the Finding a Known Item tutorial. Now that you’ve finished:
Thank you!
Questions? Contact the library library@ucmerced.edu or 209.228.4444.
What is your faculty instructor's name?
Which search tool would you use to search for a known item using the journal title?
What is the title of the article in this citation?
Pritchard, S. (2000). Essence, Identity, Signature: Tattoos and Cultural Property. Social Semiotics, 10(3), 331-346.
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