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STEP FOUR: FIND UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION

Depending on your topic, you may need to find up-to-date information on current events. An excellent database to find up-to-date information is Lexis-Nexis' Academic Universe. Academic Universe is an Internet interface to the Lexis-Nexis news and information service that provides access to newspapers, magazines, transcripts, business and legal information, and more.

How to Search Lexis-Nexis Academic:

  1. Click on the Databases link from the toolbar near the top of the Library homepage.

    Databases

  2. From the resulting page, scroll down and click on the link for General Interest/Cultural Events, as shown below:

    General Interest Link

    From the resulting screen, click on Lexis-Nexis Academic.

    Find Resources - Lexis-Nexis Academic

  3. At the resulting Quick News Search screen, enter your topic's keywords and click on Search. For example:

    college     alcohol     abuse

    would look like this:

    Lexis Search Screen

  4. Tips for doing better searches in Lexis-Nexis' Academic Universe.
    • Remember that Academic Universe is a full-text database, so
      • Think carefully about your search strategy
      • Decide whether you need to think broadly or narrowly about your search terms
      • Change the date range by clicking on the Date drop down menu.

        Lexis Date Dropdown

      • Conduct an advance search, using boolean operators and truncation, by clicking on the Guided Search tab near the top of Lexis-Nexis home page.

        Lexis - Guided Search

    • In addition, keep in mind that Academic Universe may not be the best place to search. Be sure to ask a reference librarian for assistance if you cannot find what you are looking for.

  5. After you click on the Search button a list of articles matching your keywords will be displayed. Browse through the list and click on the titles of the articles that match your topic. Most articles will be available fulltext for you to view.

    Lexis Search Results

    The resulting list is sorted by relevance to your topic. To resort the data, click on the Sort by Date link on the top of the page:

    Lexis Results Sorted by Date

  6. Most, though not all, articles in Lexis-Nexis will be fulltext. Click one of the following buttons to print, email or edit, your search results.

    Lexis Email

<<< Find Articles
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http://oldlibrary.westga.edu/~library/depts/li/tutorials/engl1101/uptodate.shtml
Last Modified: 12 August 2005