When You Know the Article You Are Looking For

When you have a citation or reference for an article in hand and want to find a copy of the article, you want to do what is called a 'known item search.'

The easiest way to do a known item search for an article is to use the Library's MGet It Citation Linker. MGet It Citation Linker uses the Library's SFX system to give you a shortcut to print and electronic versions (if available) of articles, and to delivery options if the library does not own the journal or magazine in which the article appeared.

MGet It Citation Linker is not a complete list of journal subscriptions, so if you cannot locate your article with SFX, you should still try to look for the journal title in Mirlyn, the library catalog of the University of Michigan, to find electronic and print subscriptions to the journal.

You may also wish to consult the Electronic Journals & Newspapers List.

When You Know the Topic of the Article

If you are looking for an article or articles on a particular subject or topic, you will want to use what is known as a 'bibliographic database or index'. The bibliographic databases and indexes offered by the Library often focus on a specific area like engineering, social sciences, or film scripts.

Finding the right database for your topic is the first step, and Search Tools can help. On the main page of Search Tools you can do a 'Quick Search' using one of 11 pre-selected, subject-based database groups. You can use Search Tools to browse a database by subject or to search for a particular database.

Once you have done your search in a subject database, look for the phrase 'Availability at U-M' or to locate the article either online or in the print at the Library.