How to Get Your Hands on the Articles You Need 

Please contact a librarian for assistance if you have difficult with the process described: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/askus 

1. Search any database to find an article on your topic.  

2. If the article description contains a link to HTML Full Text or PDF Full Text, click on the link and print out the article.

3. If there is a red and white button labeled Find Text at NCSU in the article description, click on this button. (Sometimes this feature is listed with the term SFX). If not, skip to Step 9.

4. When you click on the Find Text at NCSU button, a new window will appear. At the top will be the citation of the article you chose.  If the window contains the message “Full text available from” with a link to an online resource, click on the resource link. You will be taken from the database you are currently using to another online resource with your article available online.  Sometimes you will be connected directly to the article. At other times, you will be taken to a publisher webpage containing volumes and issues of the journal. Navigate to the appropriate volume, issue, and pages to find the article and print it.

5. However, if the text in Find Text at NCSU menu window contains the message “No full text available,” this means that there is no full text version of the article available online.  Click the link “Look for print copy in NCSU Libraries Catalog” to see if the library has a print subscription to the journal.  

6. If the library catalog lists the journal, your article is available at the library.  Write down the call number and note the location of the journal (D.H. Hill, branch library, or satellite shelving).  Check “Display all Volumes” to make sure the volume you need is available.

7. If the library catalog does not list the journal, the NCSU Libraries does not subscribe to the journal, and you will need to request that the library obtain a copy of the article from another library through interlibrary loan.

8. Use the Trip Saver/Interlibrary Form listed on the “Find Text at NCSU” menu or click on the link to “Request Items/Trip Saver” on the NCSU Libraries homepage.  Fill out the request form and the article will be delivered to you on the Web as a PDF file.  You do not need to know what other library has this journal. We will locate it for you.

9. If your article does not have any link to HTML or PDF Full Text, and it does not have a “Find Text at NCSU” button, Ask A Librarian for assistance by any of the methods listed at www.lib.ncsu.edu/askus (chat, phone, or email).