How To Search
Historical Abstracts
Historical Abstracts (1954-present) offers citations to thousands of scholarly articles, books, reviews, and dissertations about topics in world history (excluding the U.S. and Canada). The database also encompasses cultural subjects such as the fine arts, communication, language, fashion, music, interior design, warfare, religion, and politics.
Getting Started
> Click "Historical Abstracts" on the
Libraries’ databases list.
> Click "Click here to access your subscription"
> Press "Historical Abstracts".
> Click "Advanced Search" in the middle of the page for the most
effective searching.
Searching
Be sure to use "Advanced Search" for the most effective searching.
Simply type in keywords that describe your topic in the "keyword"
field and follow these rules:
> Connect words with AND to find articles that contain both words.
Example: Italy and art finds an article containing both Italy and art.
> Connect words with OR to find articles that contain either word.
Example: cinema or theater finds an article containing either cinema or
theater.
> Connect words with AND NOT to find articles that contain one word
but not the other.
Example: Renaissance and not Michaelangelo finds an article about Renaissance
but not Michaelangelo.
> Phrase Searching: Enclose words in quotation marks to find an exact
phrase. Phrase searching is especially useful when you want to make a search more
specific.
Example: "Italian Renaissance" finds this exact phrase—not articles
about Italian food and the Harlem Renaissance.
> Truncation: Use an * to find variants of a word.
Example: art* will find articles that contain "art", "artist",
"artists", and "artistry"
> Combining the Search Methods: If necessary, use parentheses to organize
the search.
Example: Italy and (painting or sculpture) finds articles dealing with
Italy’s painting or sculpture.
Improving Searches
> You can limit your searches to a specific area by clicking on "Advanced Search" and then clicking the magnifying glass at the end of a search field: Author/Editor, Document Type, Time Period.
Example: You are studying Italy and art of the 1300s. Enter Italy and art in the keyword field. Click on the magnifying glass at the end of the "Time Period" field. Scroll down and check"1300H" (H refers to century while D refers to decade). Click the "Paste Terms" button at the top of the screen. You have now limited the search to articles about Italy and art in the 1300s.
Finding the full-texts of articles
Some articles in Historical Abstracts have blue links to online texts:
"Link to full text at …". However, for most articles, please look
in the Libraries’ Catalog to see if the Libraries own a printed copy of the
journal containing the article:
> Minimize or exit Historical Abstracts (or print out the citations).
> Click on the Libraries’ Catalog (http://library.ua.edu/)
and select "Basic Search".
> Type in the name of the journal or magazine (or type in the title
if you are looking for a book).
> Highlight "Journal Title" from the "Find Results in"
menu (or "title" for a book)
> Click "Search". The journal will appear if the library owns it.
> Scroll down to determine if the Library Has the appropriate month
and year of the journal. (If multiple headings appear, click on each heading to
see if the library has the appropriate month and year.)
> Write down the Location and Call Number for the journal or
magazine.
Printing or Emailing
> Tag the citation(s) that you wish to print or
email by checking the box at the top left of each citation.
> Click "Output Options" on the left side of the screen.
> Select the proper choice for "Entry Format" and "Request Entry"
> Click "ASCII Display" for printing. Or, click "Email"
for emailing after entering your email address. > Click the "Submit"
bar on the right.> If you are printing, click the Print icon at the top of
the screen on the browser bar.
Help
> Ask a librarian at the Information Desk in
one of the campus libraries.
> Call the Libraries at (205) 348-6047