The University Libraries has hundreds of different article databases from a variety of different database providers. Each database provider has a slightly different search interface, in terms of the way that you enter and connect search terms and how you limit search results. However, the majority of the databases operate in largely the same manner, so once you understand how to search in one particular library database, you can easily transfer those search skills to other databases.
Again, all of the Libraries' article databases can be found on the A-Z Databases page on the University Libraries' web site (see the link below).
For purposes of demonstration, we will be looking at a database called Academic Search Premier. It is a large, multidisciplinary database that is useful for much undergraduate research. It covers a wide range of academic disciplines (which means that it is broad), but it doesn't cover each academic area in great depth (so it is less comprehensive than some of the subject-specific databases).
Academic Search Premier will be listed alphabetically on the "A" page.
The link below will take you directly to the Academic Search Premier database. It will open a second window, so you can refer to this guide while searching the database.
If you are accessing this or any other Libraries database from off campus, you will be requested to authenticate by logging in with your My.UNL credentials.
NOTE: The EBSCOhost platform will be migrating to a new interface on June 3, 2025. See a preview.
Articles from a wide range of scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, and trade publications. (Full-Text and Abstracts)
To identify articles on your topic, type in your search term(s). The database default is a keyword search that looks for the terms anywhere in an article's record: author, title, name of journal, abstract/article summary, and subject headings.
(Remember: quotation marks produce phrase searching.)
Narrow or focus search results by including terms in the other search boxes. The database search engine provides the AND.
This is how you would search for articles on both food waste and colleges or food waste and universities.
The search results list is ranked by relevance, so if you want only more recent articles, use the Publication Date slider bar in the 'Limit To' section (on the left hand side of the search results page):
For this class, you will want to find articles from Magazines or Trade Publications so use the the Source Type limit (also on the left hand side of the screen). Click on the link that says 'Show More' and then mark the boxes next to those two publication types.
Some of the library databases contain the full-text of some/all of the articles. If an article's full-text is available, you will see an icon or link that indicates that is the case. Click on the link/icon to view the article. You can then either download, print, email the article.
If the database does not provide the article itself, use the 'Find This for Me' button to check if the article might be available through another database or a journal subscriptions.
If the article is not available anywhere in the Libraries' digital collections, 'Find This for Me' will also give you the option to request a copy of the article from our Delivery/Interlibrary Loan service.