Academic Universe is a comprehensive database that covers news, legal information, medical discoveries, business information, and reference material. Special types of materials include tv transcripts, biographical sketches, college newspapers, congressional documents, speeches, state news, poll and survey results, law reviews, salary surveys, and New York Times articles.
•Go to the Libraries' home page at www.lib.ua.edu
•Select "Databases" at the top of the home page.
•Click on the letter "L" in the alphabetized list at the top of the page.
•Scroll down and click "Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe"
•If prompted, enter your name and University ID number.
•Click on the appropriate category for your search.
Quick Info Searching: Searches all the English language full-text news sources included up to the most recent two years.Just type in keywords without AND, OR, NOT. Put phrases in quotation marks.
•Fill out the entire search form step-by-step.
•Connect keywords with AND, OR, NOT.
Example: Alabama and Hyundai finds articles that contain both Alabama and Hyundai.
•Put phrases in quotation marks.
Example: "due process of law" will find article that contain this exact phrase.
•Use an “!” to truncate
Example: swim! finds swim, swimmer, swimmers, swimming.
For example: You want to find information on Alabama and the new Hyundai plant. Click on the category labeled "News" Choose the "General News" category In the keyword box enter "Alabama AND Hyundai" Click on the button labeled "Search" Click on the title of the article that most interests you.
•Academic Universe has automatic limits. Make sure that you select the proper category and date range.
•Fill out the entire search form step-by-step.
•Remember that FOCUS only searches the current results list. You must be on the main search screen to start a new search!
•New York Times articles?
Academic Universe contains full-text articles from the New York Times from 1980-current. Abstracts are available from
1969-current. Select “Guided News Search”. Select “General News” in Step 1 and “Major Newspapers” in Step 2.
Type in keywords and then select a date rage. Finally, type in “New York Times” in step 5.
•Salary surveys?
It may be difficult to find a copy of an entire survey, but several news sources will include summaries. Go to the Guided News, search form select the "General
News" category and enter salary survey in the Keyword box. Enter terms related to your topic of interest, such as information technology OR computer
in the Additional Terms box. Selecting Newsletters, Magazines & Journals will retrieve relevant hits; you may want to run the search multiple times,
using a different source selection from the "News Source".
•News report that I saw on television recently?
You can find the transcript of most news broadcasts by using the Guided News Search and selecting "Transcripts". Then enter as much information as you can remember. If you remember
what channel you saw the report on, you can limit your search to that particular channel.
•Articles from school newspapers?
Please be aware that many newspapers such as the Crimson White also have their own web sites with
articles. Using the Guided News form, you can search for articles from your school newspaper that have been selected
for inclusion in University Wire news service. Simply select "University News" from the pull down menu in
step 1 and "University Wire" as your source in step 2, enter your search terms, and add the newspaper's name as an additional search term.
To find out if your student newspaper is included, check the Source List.
•Speech given by a prominent government official/politician?
Go to the Guided News form, and select "Transcripts". Then choose "Political Transcripts" from
the source selection menu. This will limit your search to only transcripts of political campaign speeches and
remarks of government officials.
•Specific cases or laws?
Go to Legal Research and select the Law Reviews search form. Law reviews provide
background information and analysis of major court cases. Choose the Guided Search tab
at the top. In the first text box, type Brown v. Board of Education. Select "AtLeast3" from
the pull-down menu, which will ensure that the case name appears several times
throughout each article, rather than just as a passing reference. Select an appropriate date restriction.
•Polls or Surveys?
Go under Reference and select Polls & Surveys. Simply type in the type of survey you want in the keyword box. Be sure to select an appropriate date
restriction.
Printing or saving full-texts:
Click on the "Print/Save Options" button at the top of the page
Click on the "Display Document" button at the top of the page
Next go to the browser bar for the printing icon
Click "OK" (If you are printing inside the Library, type in your name and pay for your print job at the printer station).
E-mailing full-texts:
Click the "E-mail" button at the top of the page
Type in your e-mail address in the blank box
Click on the button labeled "Print"