Tacoma Community College Library: Searching for Articles in the Periodicals A-Z Search: Periodicals A to Z

Searching the Library's Periodicals

Using the "Periodicals A-Z" list

Periodicals A to Z is an electronic list of every magazine, journal and newspaper to which TCC has a subscription. It will provide the title of the item and where it is stored (either in print or electronically).

Click the Periodicals A to Z link to get started (it will open in a new tab) and then follow directions listed below:

Periodicals A-Z
Click this link to see if the TCC Library has online or full-text access to a specific periodical (newspaper, magazine, or journal).

Steps to Find a Specific items in the Periodicals A-Z Search:

Step 1: Start with the Title

Open the Periodicals A-Z list:

Periodicals A-Z
Click this link to see if the TCC Library has online or full-text access to a specific periodical (newspaper, magazine, or journal).

In the Periodicals A-Z list, linked above, type the first few words of the magazine, newspaper, or journal title in the top search box.

Notes:

The default search box is "Title begins with" -- this refers to the title of the magazine, newspaper, or journal, NOT the title of an article
If the first few words of the periodical title are very common (like "Journal of the American..."), you can change the drop-down menu to "Title contains" and enter a few key words instead.

(click on image to enlarge)

Steps to Find a Specific items in the Periodicals A-Z Search:

Step 2: Find Out Where and How It is Stored

In this example, I searched for Newsweek magazine. In the screenshot below, you can see that the full text of articles of this magazine are available in three different databases, as well as available in print in our library.

(click on image to enlarge)

Steps to Find a Specific items in the Periodicals A-Z Search:

Step 3: Retrieve The Full-Text

If, for example, I clicked on the Academic Search Complete database link for Newsweek, I would come to a description of the magazine and a chronological list of every issue (newest first).

If I knew exactly which article I want, I can open up the issue that corresponds to the date I need and then browse for articles published on that date.

Note: If you are off campus, then clicking the database link might pull up a log-in screen. If so, then log in using the same username and password you use to log into the MyTCC portal.

(click on image to enlarge)

Steps to Discover Periodicals in a Particular Subject or Discipline in Periodicals A-Z:

Step 1: Start by Browsing

Open the Periodicals A to Z list

Periodicals A-Z
Click this link to see if the TCC Library has online or full-text access to a specific periodical (newspaper, magazine, or journal).

Skip the search box -- instead, look down the page to the Browse e-journals by subject section. In the example below, I chose the "Earth & Environmental Sciences" subject.

screenshot of browsing subjects in Periodicals A-Z list

Steps to Discover Periodicals in a Particular Subject or Discipline in Periodicals A-Z:

Step 2: Look at Subject Sub-Categories

Most categories have subcategories of more specific subject headings. In this example below, I chose the broad category of "Earth & Environmental Sciences." From here, I can choose a more specific topic, like "Forestry."

(click on image to enlarge)

Steps to Discover Periodicals in a Particular Subject or Discipline in Periodicals A-Z:

Step 3: Browse Journals on that Subject

When I click on the subject heading sub-category -- in this example, I chose "Forestry" -- you can then see specific journals related to that sub-category. In this example, the TCC Library has access to more than 40 journals on the topic of forestry. You can see full-text options for each journal in our databases.

Notes:

Some journals are available in more than one library database, so be sure to check the dates available!
Click on the name of the database, which is a link to that specific journal in that specific database.

(click on image to enlarge)

Steps to Discover Periodicals in a Particular Subject or Discipline in Periodicals A-Z:

Step 4: Go to the Database Where the Journal is Housed

Once you go to a specific journal in a specific database, you might be able to searching within ALL of the issues for articles on a topic. In this example, seen below, you can click the "Search within this publication" to do just that.

Or, you can open individual issues of the publication to browse for articles.

(click on image to enlarge)