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Kirtland

GEL 230 - Prehistoric Life: Find Articles

Articles: What They Are & Where to Find Them

Publications containing articles are referred to as periodicals and come in many forms:

  • scholarly journals
  • trade journals 
  • popular magazines
  • newspapers

Find out more about the different types of periodicals by looking at the Magazine vs. Journals chart from the Austin Community College Library Services department.

Articles provide current information including news, opinions, and research. As a college student, you will not be using magazines like People, Ladies Home Journal, Sports Illustrated, or Vogue. Your instructors expect you to find articles in scholarly journals for your research. 

The best place to find articles is to search the Library's databases. While they contain magazines, journals, and newspapers, some databases may also contain reference books, video files, audio files, and podcasts. The Database Searching guide can help you better understand databases and database searching.

What database will help you find the best articles for this project? Browse Databases by Subject or look at an A-Z list of all databases available through Kirtland's Library.

Searching the Databases off-campus? Use your Single Sign-On username and password to access.

Databases Online Through Kirtland's Library

Kirtland Librarians recommend the following databases for your project:

Tip: If your search term consists of two or more words, enclose the words with quotation marks - example "plate techtonics". This will narrow your search results by finding the words in that specific order.

Suggested Search Terms

Historical Geology

 Earth Plate Tectonics Geologic Time
Weathering Stratigraphy Sediment

Igneous Rocks
Minerals Fossils Dinosaurs Corals
Geologic Time Paleontology Relative Dating Structural Geology

Brachiopods

Orogeny

 Glaciations Palimpsest Outcrop

A Video on How to Search Databases (4:28)

Databases:

  • provide 24/7 access to academic journals, magazines, newspapers, books, video clips, and audio clips.
  • give you access to things you may not find with a Google search
  • make it easier for you to find better information while spending less time searching
  • can be limited to show you results that are peer-reviewed or the most recent content

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Some journal articles are peer reviewed. These articles carry more authority than other articles because their content has been reviewed by subject experts (peers) prior to publication.  Databases allow you to limit your search to peer reviewed materials.  By doing so, you assure that the resources you are using are reliable and acceptable for scholarly work.

Under Advanced Search on many databases, you can limit your search to only peer reviewed articles as seen in the image below.