How Do I find the full text of an article?

UTC uses a service calledTextLinker to help link library users from a brief citation in a database to the full-text of a journal or newspaper article. TextLinker can also be used to lookup a specific article citation or journal title, to see if it is available online or at the Library in print or microform.

How do I use TextLinker?

After using the databases to search for information on your topic, you often (but not always - see #9 ) see a link named "Check availability in UTC TextLinker". Clicking on that link from within the database will create a TextLinker results page with direct links to one or more of the following:

• Full text of the article.
• Table of contents of the journal, which links to the full text of the article.
• Database home page, which must be searched to retrieve the full text.
• Library catalog (OPAC).
• Various Custom links (such as InterLibrary Loan forms)

Where do the various links on the TextLinker results page go?

Depending on the resource, links to the content may be available at the article, journal, issue, or database levels.

Why isn't there a link to an online copy of the article I want?

If the article link is absent from the TextLinker results page it could be due to one of the following reasons:

• Lupton Library does not have a subscription to the online version of that particular journal or newspaper title.
• Some journals are published only in print and do not offer full-text online versions.
• The publisher of the journal or newspaper may not support the programming necessary for article level linking.

Sometimes there are many options for full text and journal links. Why?

The same journal is often available in more than one database and may also be available at the library. TextLinker will display the links to all content accessible to Lupton Library, giving you multiple options for obtaining full-text.

How do I get to the article if there is only a journal or database link?

In cases where TextLinker can only take you to the journal's table of contents or a database home page, you will have to browse the table of contents to locate the issue and article you need; or, search the database to retrieve the full-text article.

If there is no online link to the article (or journal), how do I know if Lupton Library has it?

TextLinker will show a link to "UTC Library catalog (check holding dates!)" if the journal is in print or microform at the library. Click on that link and then review holdings for your journal or newspaper title to see if the library has the specific date and volume number (and usually the issue number) for the article that you need.

TextLinker provides an article level link even though the full-text of the article is not available. Why?

This can occur for several reasons:

• Full-text articles are withheld from the online versions of the database by the publisher or author.
• Meta-data about the article appears in a database before the publisher has made the full text available.

I don't see an option in my database results to "Check UTC TextLinker". What do I do?

First, this can occur because not all databases have the software programming necessary to use a TextLinker type of product.

Second, you can still search for the article to see if it is online (or at the library in print or microform) by going to the Library's home page and clicking on Journals by Title. Be sure to have your citation information readily available.

Need further assistance? Ask a Librarian.