Last revised: August 2006
Completing Partial Citations
Are you looking for an article or a book, but you can only remember part of the citation? Use these easy steps to complete partial or incorrect citations. Library staff will be happy to assist you!
| Example | |
|---|---|
| Partial/Incorrect | Correct |
| Brahm, Barbara. "Using Graphs to Teach Subtraction". Computer Teaching. 1995 | Brehm, Barbara, et.al. "Using Graphing to Teach Subtraction". Computing Teacher. 22(3):36-8 November 1994 |
1. Compare the Partial/Incorrect and Correct citations above. Notice that there is a small mistake in each part of the Partial/Incorrect citation. Look at each part of the citation individually. Be suspicious of everything!
2. Don't try to search for the item using any numbers--volume, year, etc. They're the easiest part of the citation to get wrong, so it's best to set them aside. (See a librarian for assistance finding articles published before 1970.)
3. Names are also easy to mix up. It's possible that Robert Kenneth is really Kenny Roberts. Also, the citation may have more than one author.
4. A good strategy for the given example would be to search for graph* and subtract* (words in which you have a moderate degree of confidence) in the ERIC database since the article is clearly related to education.
5. Below are some examples of databases. Sometimes it's best to search in a subject-specific database when you know the subject of an article. Please note: Because of licensing agreements, these databases are available only to members of the University of Maryland campus community (unless noted with ***).
| Databases for Book citations | Databases for Article citations |
|---|---|
|
6. Take advantage of database search features. Many databases allow you to search by phrase or to truncate word stems to find all endings. TIP: Always look for online help when you are within a database to learn about search features and tricks to using a database.
| Truncation | |
|---|---|
| EBSCOhost | graph* (replaces multiple characters) |
| FirstSearch | dog+ (only finds standard plurals) |
| Lexis-Nexis | govern! (replaces multiple characters) wom*n (replaces one character) |
| Periodicals Contents Index | librar* (replaces multiple characters) |
7. If at first you don't succeed, don't get discouraged. It often takes several attempts in several different databases. Try reducing the number of terms that you search and try searching one part--author, title, etc.--at a time.
8. Ask library staff for assistance if you run into problems.
