How To Search
MLA
(Modern Language Association)

MLA International Bibliography indexes journal articles from over 3000 journals related to literature, linguistics, drama, and folklore for the languages of English, French, Spanish, German, and others. Users can look in the Libraries Catalog to determine if the Libraries own the journal containing the articles. MLA also contains books, reviews, dissertations, conference proceedings, and bibliographies. Coverage: 1963-present.

Getting Started

> Select "MLA International Bibliography" from the Libraries’ databases list.
> Please click "Log off" at the top right when you are finished using MLA.

Searching

> Connect keywords with AND, OR, NOT, NEAR to find words anywhere in a citation.
British and novels finds an article containing both British and novels.
Clemens or Twain finds articles containing either Clemens or Twain.
Tragedies not Hamlet finds articles containing tragedies but not Hamlet.
Romantics near poetry finds articles with romantics and poetry in the same sentence.

> Enclose phrases in quotation marks. Phrase searching is especially useful in making searches specific.
"stream of consciousness" finds articles that contain this exact phrase—not articles about a stream of water and consciousness.

> Use an asterick on the root of a keyword to find variations.
novel* finds novel, novels, novelist, or novelists.

> If necessary, use parentheses to organize long search strings.
French and (plays or drama) finds articles containing French and either plays or drama.

Improving Your Searches

> Set Limits: Click the blue "Change" button near the top right to limit a search to journal articles, dissertations, books, or a certain language.
> Index: Click the white index tab at the top right to browse a list of keywords when you are unsure of which keywords to use for a search. Browse the author and journal title index to look for variations of a name or title.
> Thesaurus: Click the thesaurus tab to find synonyms for a keyword.
>Advanced Search: Limit a search to a source, such as a specific journal.

Finding the Full-texts of the Articles

A few MLA citations now offer links to online texts. These citations display crimson flags next to the title and contain blue links to the online texts.

However, for most items, you must search in Libraries Catalog to see if the Libraries own the journal with the article:

> Click on the "Check for holdings" button underneath the citation. This feature will search the Libraries Catalog for the journal, book, or dissertation.
> The item will appear if the Libraries own it. (If the Libraries do not own the item, you will see the red message "Your search resulted in no hits!" in the Catalog.)
> For journals: scroll down to see if the Libraries own the appropriate month and year (If multiple headings for the journal appear, check the dates under each heading.)
>Write down the Location and Call Number for the journal or other item (For journals in the Gorgas Library: If the issue is a Recent Issue, go to Floor 2. If the issue is listed under Library Has:, go to Floor 4M.) Also, be sure to write down the bibliographic information from MLA such as issue date and page number.
> Retrieve the item.

***Please note that items not available at UA can be ordered from other libraries. You can order books through Kudzu (http://library.ua.edu/) in the Libraries Catalog. You can order books or articles through the Interlibrary Loan System (http://illserver.lib.ua.edu/illiad/logon.html)

Printing, Saving, Emailing

First, Checkmark the record(s) that you wish to print, save, or email.

Printing: Click the Printer icon at the top right of the results list. Fill out the questions. Click the yellow "Print" at the top right of the screen. Click "OK". (Inside the Libraries, printing is 5 cents per page, and you must use an Action Card to print. You can load Bama Cash on an Action Card at the Value Transfer Station in the Copy Room.)

Saving: Click the Disk icon at the top right of the results list. Fill out the questions. Click the yellow "Save" button on the top right. Enter a file name, select the appropriate drive, and click "Save" on the pop-up window.

Emailing: Click the Email icon (a letter) at the top right of the results list. Type in your email address and subject. Fill out the rest of the questions. Click the yellow "Send Mail" button at the top right of the screen.

Help

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