How To Search
Poole’s Plus
(Nineteenth Century Masterfile)

Poole’s Plus offers citations to thousands of articles, editorials, and reviews from American periodicals published between 1802-1906. Poole’s Plus encompasses Poole's Index to Periodical Literature (1802-1906), Stead's Index to Periodicals (1890-1906), Cumulative Index to Selected List of Periodicals (1896-1899), New York Daily Tribune Index (1875-1906), New York Times Index (1863-1905), Harper's Magazine Index (1850-1892), Library Journal Index (1876-1897).

Getting Started

> Click on either "Poole’s Plus" or "Nineteenth Century Masterfile" on the Libraries database list.

Searching

Poole’s Plus ranks search results by relevancy. Citations at the top of the result list are the most relevant to your keywords.

> Connect words with AND, OR, NOT.
Example: Lee and Gettysburg finds an article that contains both Lee and Gettysburg.
cinema or theater finds an article that contains either cinema or theater.
ships and not ironclads finds an article about ships but not ironclad ships.

> Phrase Searching: Type in the phrase and fill in the bubble for "exact phrase" under "Search Qualifiers". Phrase searching is useful when you are narrowing a search.

Advanced Searching

> Limiting Searches: On the main search screen, Poole’s Plus enables you to limit your search by date or to a particular index. You can also qualify your search by searching for word variants or an exact phrase.

> One of the most useful ways of searching in Poole’s Plus is through browsing periodicals by date. To browse periodicals, click the purple "Browse Periodicals Mode" on the search page. Type in the title of the periodical. Checkmark the periodical’s title and click the "Select" button at the top of the list. Click the "Sort" button on the left sidebar to view articles from a particular date range.

****you can also browse by an author’s name

Finding the Texts of articles

Poole’s Plus do not contain the full-texts of articles. Look in the Libraries’ Catalog to see if the Libraries own a printed copy of the journal:

> Minimize Poole’s Plus (or print out the citations)
> Go to the "Libraries Catalog" at http://library.ua.edu/
> Select "Basic Search"
> Type in the name of the journal, magazine, or newspaper (not the title of the article).
> Highlight "Journal Title" in the "Find Results in" menu.
> Click "Search"
> The journal or magazine will appear if the library owns it.
> Scroll down and see if the Library Has the appropriate month and year of the journal or magazine (Please note: if multiple headings for the journal appear, look at each heading to see if the library owns the appropriate month and year.)
> Write down the Location and Call Number for the journal or magazine. Also, be sure to write down the citation from Poole’s Plus.
> Retrieve the article from the appropriate library.

****If you are looking for a book title, search in the Libraries Catalog under "title" search. If you are looking for a government document, please ask at the Information Desk.

Printing or Emailing

Printing:
> Checkmark the citations that you wish to print.
> Click "Save Checked Items" on the left side of the screen.
> Next, click "Display checked items" on the left side of the screen.
> Click the "Print" button on the browser bar.

Emailing:
>Checkmark citations, click "save checked items" and then click "Display checked items". Once the citations are displayed, copy and paste the citation into an email and then send the email to yourself.

Help

> Go to the Information Desk at the Gorgas Library.
> Call the Information Desk at (205) 348-6047

***These instructions were current as of May, 2002. However, Poole’s Plus may change at any time.