OCLC Article First is a database of journal citations of information ranging from science, technology and medicine to the social sciences, humanities, popular culture and business.This database contains citations of more than 13,000 journals! However, Article First does not offer access to articles in full text. Please check UA Libraries Catalog (http://library.ua.edu/) to see if the Libraries own to journal containing the article. If UA does not subscribe to the journal, you can order the article through Interlibrary Loan Service (http://illserver.lib.ua.edu/illiad/logon.html).
Go to the Libraries’ web page at www.lib.ua.edu
•Select “Databases” list at the top of the Libraries’ web page.
•Click the letter “A” in the center of the page and select “Article First (AVL)”
•If prompted, enter your name and University ID number.
•You will be taken to the OCLC FirstSearch “Basic Search” page.
•OCLC maintains many separate databases in addition to Article First. A list of those databases can be found by clicking on “databases” on the left side of the search screen. The databases can also be accessed from Article First by clicking on “Articles”, “Journal Articles”, or “Reference Resources” at the top of each search results page.
•To search only in Article First, make sure that “Article First” is highlighted in the drop-down menu beside “Search In”.
•rticle first allows 3 types of searching: Basic, Advanced, and Expert.
Keyword Search:Type the term(s) into the “Search for” textbox and click the Search button.This search finds the terms anywhere they appear in the record.
Author Search: This search finds terms in the author field only. *IMPORTANT* Searches should be entered as “last name, first name”
Title Search: This search is a keyword search for the terms in the title and subtitle fields only.
Enclosing search terms in parenthesis will search the database for a specific phrase. For example, a search for “tidal wave” will find items containing that specific phrase, whereas a search without the parenthesis will find items with both tidal and wave, but not limited to tidal wave.
Using AND, OR, and NOT to combine search terms will expand or limit searches. For example, a search for tides AND waves limits the search to records that contain both terms; a search for tides OR waves expands the search to records that contain either term; a search for tides NOT waves limits the search to records that contain tides but not those that contain waves.
•Wildcards (use this for alternate spellings of a word)- The wildcard used in Article First to replace one unknown character is the pound sign (#). Example: wom#n finds citations for both woman and women. The wildcard used in Article First to replace more than one unknown character is the question mark (?). Example: colo?r returns results for color, colour, and colonizer.
•Truncation (use this for alternate word endings)- Truncation is represented by an *. Enter the search term and replace the ending with “*”.Example: theat* finds citations for theater, theatre, and theatrical.
You can limit your search to a specific format of materials. Click on “show document type limit options” and a new search screen will appear with a listing of the formats of materials. Check the boxes beside the formats you wish to search. You can also limit a search to only the University of Alabama’s collection.
•The database automatically displays a short
record for each item found in the search.
•If there is a small library icon ( 
UNIV OF
ALABAMA) at the end of the short record, the University of Alabama has access
to the item.
•Click on the individual record for more detailed
information or click on the link on the left sidebar labeled “Detailed
Record”.
•To “Mark a Record” (to narrow the results for
printing or emailing): place a checkmark in the box beside the record
number.
Click
on the Print button 
at the top of the screen. The results will be reformatted for easier
printing. Then click “File” at the
top of the browser window. Click “Print”
and follow the on-screen directions.
•Click on the email button 
.
•Select whether to email all the results or only the marked results.
•Select whether to email the brief citation information or the detailed records.
•Select whether to send the email as HTML or as plain text.
•Enter the email address and click Send.
Please check UA Libraries Catalog (http://library.ua.edu/) to see if the Libraries own the journal containing the article. If UA does not subscribe to the journal, you can order the article through Interlibrary Loan Service (http://illserver.lib.ua.edu/illiad/logon.html).
•At the top of every screen there is a help button 
that will explain how to use the search functions on that page.
•Ask a librarian at the Information Desk in one of the campus libraries.
•Call the Libraries at (205) 348-6047