Skip to Main Content
Westchester Community College Harold L. Drimmer Library

HSERV 200 : Analyzing the movie CRASH: Finding Articles

Recommended Databases

Use the tips under the Search Strategy tab to develop a list of keywords to search. Do not type in whole sentences.

If you are off campus, you will need to log-in using your MyWCC username and password.

Archived Government Sites (Jan 2025)

Enter the URL of the desired website.

WaybackMachine hompageWayback Machine Calendar - Select a Date

The calendar will display dates where the Internet Archive crawled the site.

Click on one of the days/times to see that version of the website.

*The dates/times do not indicate changes made to the website, only when a copy was saved.

 

How can I tell if something is a professional research article?


The WebMD article linked above uses language that tells you it is not the original study but discussing research someone else has conducted:

  • "The findings suggests."
  • "They're acknowledging that..."
  • "The researchers said..."
  • "The researchers found that..."

The study WebMD is discussing is a scholarly source, but the WebMD article itself is not. It is a secondary source - one that summarizes original research. The article includes some publishing information about the original study that will help you find the research article.

From the WebMD article:

Use the information provided as search terms to find for the original study: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, November 3, 2014, Wig, brain and memory. This is available online (I can use the Journal Finder to see if it is available in a library database).

*There is nothing 'wrong' with the WebMD article, it is just not appropriate for this course.

Note the language in the research study that informs you that it is original research:

  • "We describe..."
  • "We characterize..."
  • "We use...
  • "We also observed..."
  • "We focused on..."

These phrases show the reader that the authors of the article are the same ones who conducted the study and are presenting their original research. Original research articles are often referred to as Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed or Professional sources.

Database Search Help: Filters and Tools

WCC Library subscribes to a wide range of databases. You must be a current student, staff, or faculty member to use these databases. (See the Work Off-Campus tab above.)  You may view complete listing of the library's databases or click on the links on the left to search databases that are recommended for your assignment.

Remember to apply the Search Strategies outlined under the Search Strategy tab. Do not type in whole sentences.

New Ebsco search keywords Peer Reviewed

Enter your keywords in the search boxes. Before running your search, check the FULL TEXT box under Limit your results to get the full articles. Check the PEER REVIEWED box to limit to Peer Reviewed articles only, which you will need for this assignment. Some databases will give you mostly Peer Reviewed articles and some, like Academic Search Complete, will give you a mix of magazine, newspaper and peer reviewed articles. 

The articles will be labeled by the type of source they are: Peer Reviewed/Academic Journal, Periodical (magazine articles), News (newspaper articles), you will also find book reviews, conference papers and other sources that are not useful for this assignment. 

New Ebsco Source Type Labels

You can limit the source types to only Peer Reviewed (aka Scholary, Academic, Professional articles) by clicking the Peer Review box just under the search box at the top of the screen. You can also refine your results after your search by clicking ALL FILTERS and limiting to Peer Reviewed or specific source types such as Newspapers or Magazines and then APPLY your selections.

Note that while the majority of articles in Academic Journals are peer reviewed , you can also find book reviews, editorials and other resources. 

New Ebsco Source Type Filters

 

Read the Abstract of the article to see if it is interesting. The first few sentences will appear below the article information. Click on SHOW MORE to see the rest of the Abstract or Summary.  Click on the TOOLS icon (three vertical dots) in to the right of the article title for citation, email and other sharing options. 

New Ebsco Interface Show More Abstract and Tools icon

 

Under TOOLS you can select CITE to get an APA formatted citation or then Export to Noodle Tools. Under SHARE you can email the article to yourself or find the permalink to post in your course shell or share with your professor or a librarian. Download will give you the full-text of the article if it is available. A PDF link will also appear under the abstract.

New EBSCO interface Tools Cite Share

 

New EBSCO interface CITE Export to NoodleTools\

Celebrating 75 Years of Excellence!

Westchester Community College provides accessible, high quality and affordable education to meet the needs of our diverse community. We are committed to student success, academic excellence, workforce development, economic development and lifelong learning.

MyWCC
Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook Facebook

75 Grasslands Road
Valhalla, NY 10595
Tel: (914) 606-6600