instructions_for_accessing_penn_databases_for_your_research_paper_generic.docx |
There are hundreds of databases accessible with your Pennkey and password through Penn’s Library website. Here are some instructions you can follow to get started looking for references for your research paper.
1) Go to Penn’s Library web site: www.library.upenn.edu
2) When you arrive to the Penn Library web site (very blue), you will see a button highlighted in RED (“Catalog”). Click on the button to the right – “ARTICLES”
3) On the next screen, you will see “EBSCO Megafile” under “ARTICLES”. [EBSCO Megafile is a large database that can be used for many subjects].
4) You will see a “search” box on the same screen for EBSCO Megafile. Enter your search terms for your paper topic there. For example, “Alzheimer’s Disease” and Enter.
5) Your search will pull up all EBSCO Megafile articles related to Alzheimer’s Disease:
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/results?sid=ef487d88-de96-4e9b-8d21-1b6d6158ca03%40sessionmgr111&vid=0&hid=128&bquery=Alzheimer%27s+Disease&bdata=JmRiPWtlaCZ0eXBlPTEmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZl
Simply browse through the articles to find those that interest you the most.
6) Before you continue searching for references for your paper, take 5 minutes to create an EBSCO Megafile account so that you can SAVE all of your articles and searches.
a. Click on the “Sign In” link at the top of the EBSCO Megafile page next to “Folder”. If you do not have an account, click on “Create a New Account” next to “Log In”.
b. Fill in all of the necessary information to create an account and click “Save Changes”.
7) Once you have created your account, you can save any articles and searches to your account, saving you valuable time for the future. Each time you visit EBSCO Megafile, simply click on “Sign In” and use your username and password. You can even create folders for subjects, classes, or projects.
8) To search for other Penn databases, I would suggest browsing the “Databases By Subject” page:
http://www.library.upenn.edu/common/browsesubj_db.html
9) One thing to remember is that if you are on Penn’s campus and trying to access the databases, you do not have to use your Pennkey and password for each database (for example in the libraries) because you used the Pennkey and password to log in to the computer. However, OFF CAMPUS searches of databases will require Pennkey and password.