Skip to page content

United States (English) Change

Periodical titles in FirstSearch help

Contents

Tips and examples are also available on the other pages in Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch.

What it does for you

Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch lets you:

  • Get a title list for a FirstSearch database (all titles or full-text titles only)
  • Get a combined title list for all included FirstSearch databases
  • Learn which FirstSearch databases index periodicals (journals, magazines, and other periodicals) you want to use
  • Learn which FirstSearch databases have full text for a title

The information in Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch is stored in a database. When you request a list of titles, the database is searched and the results are retrieved and displayed for you.

What it includes

Databases included. Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch includes title information for FirstSearch databases that index periodicals, if the database producer provides the information to OCLC. To see a list of the included databases, click on Title List Update Info (at the left).

Databases not included. Title information is not included for a database:

  • If the producer does not provide the information
  • Or, if the database does not index periodicals

Information included. Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch includes the following information for each title, if provided by the database producer:

  • Title (full title)
  • ISSN (not provided for some databases)
  • Database Name
  • Database Producer
  • Citation Start (not provided for some databases)
  • Citation End (not provided for some databases)
  • Full Text Start (provided for databases that include full text)
  • Full Text End

The format of some of the information also varies by producer and database. For example, some producers provide titles in uppercase letters only. Formats of dates also vary or "Yes" may be used to show that full text is available though no specific date is given.

What it lets you do

Search for a title. Click on Search by Title or Search by ISSN (at the left) to search for a title to find which databases index the title or provide full-text articles from it.

View a long list in parts. Click on Browse by Letter (at the left) to view a part of a long list.

View the complete list for a database. Click on List by Database (at the left) to view the complete list for a database.

Save or download a list. Click on Download List (at the left) to save on your computer a file containing a title list.

View information about lists. Click on Title List Update Info (at the left) to learn:

  • Which databases are included
  • When the title information was last updated for each database
  • How many titles are included for each database
  • How many titles have full text for each database

Why it is sometimes slow

The information in Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch is stored in a database. When you request a list of titles, the database is searched and the results are retrieved and displayed for you. The time needed to retrieve and display the information varies by the size of the list and the speed of your connection. Some lists are very large. To see how many titles are included for a database, click on Title List Update Info (at the left).

To reduce the time to retrieve and display a list:

  • Show results in pages. (Do not show all results on one page.)
  • Search by title or ISSN.
  • Browse by letter in a single database.
  • Browse by two or more letters in all databases.
  • Select the Full Text Titles Only option.

How to search by title

Notes about searching by title:

  • In the Search by Title page, type any part of a title in the Title box.
  • An invisible % wildcard character is included at the beginning and end of the Title box so you can easily search by typing only part of a title.
  • When you search for a title, all characters in the title must be typed or replaced by wildcard characters. Words must be typed in the order in which they appear in the title.
  • You can also type wildcard characters:
    • Type % (percent sign) to replace 0 or more characters.
    • Type _ (underscore) to replace 1 character only.
  • Type letters in lowercase or uppercase.

Examples. The following examples show different ways to search for the title, American Journal of Sports Medicine, in the EBSCO MasterFILE Online database. Some examples also retrieve other titles that match the search.

  • [invisible %]american journal of sports medicine[invisible %]
  • [invisible %]sports medicine[invisible %]
  • [invisible %]sport[invisible %]
  • [invisible %]american%medicine[invisible %]
  • [invisible %]sport%medicine[invisible %]

The following examples do not retrieve American Journal of Sports Medicine:

  • [invisible %]journal sports[invisible %] (not retrieved because of was not typed or replaced by a wildcard character)
  • [invisible %]medicine journal[invisible %] (not retrieved because the words are not in the correct order and of sports was not typed or replaced by a wildcard character)

How to browse by letter

Notes about browsing by letter:

  • In the Browse by Letter page, type the beginning letter or letters of a title in the Title box.
  • An invisible % wildcard character is included at the end of the Title box so you can type just the beginning of a title to view all the titles on the list that begin with the letter or letters you typed.
  • You can also type wildcard characters:
    • Type % (percent sign) to replace 0 or more characters.
    • Type _ (underscore) to replace 1 character only.
  • Type letters in lowercase or uppercase.

Examples. The following examples show different ways to browse by letter for the title, American Journal of Sports Medicine, in the EBSCO MasterFILE Online database. These examples retrieve all titles that begin with the letters typed.

  • a[invisible %]
  • am[invisible %]
  • american jour[invisible %]
  • american journal%medicine[invisible %]
  • american journal of sports medicine[invisible %]

How to search by ISSN

Notes about searching by ISSN:

  • In the Search by ISSN page, type the first four characters of the ISSN in the first box and the last four characters in the second box. Do not type more than four characters in the first box.
  • Some ISSNs in Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch include a hyphen in the middle, some do not. In the Search by ISSN page, an invisible % wildcard character is included between the two ISSN boxes to help you search for ISSNs with or without hyphens.

Examples. The following examples show different ways to search for the ISSN, 0040-781X. The ISSN may appear as 0040-781X or 0040781X in lists. An invisible % wildcard character is included between the two ISSN boxes to retrieve the ISSN whether or not it includes a hyphen. Some examples may also retrieve other ISSNs that match the search.

  • [invisible %] (retrieves 0040-781X or 0040781X )
  • [invisible %] (retrieves ISSNs beginning with 0040, including 0040-781X or 0040781X )
  • [invisible %] (retrieves ISSNs ending with 781x, including 0040-781X or 0040781X )

How lists are sorted

The following are notes about the sorting of lists in Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch:

  • All lists requested through Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch are sorted alphabetically by title.
  • If a title begins with an article such as A, An, or The, the article is used in the sorting. For example, titles that begin with The are listed with other titles that begin with T.
  • Titles that begin with a number are listed before titles that begin with A.
  • If a list includes titles that are in multiple databases, duplicate titles are sorted first by title and then by database name. The following is a sample portion of a list obtained by browsing ti. Time is listed five times; the five occurrences are sorted by database name.
    • Title ISSN Database Name
    Timber Wood Products   Business & Industry
    Time 0040-781X ABI/INFORM
    Time 0040-781X ATLA Religion
    Time 0040781X EBSCO MasterFILE Online
    Time 0040-781X Periodical Abstracts
    Time 0040-781X Wilson Select Full Text
    TIME & SOCIETY 0961-463X Arts & Humanities Search

Comments or suggestions

Please send us your comments about Periodical Titles in OCLC FirstSearch. Click on the Feedback link at the top of any page and send us your comments.