One of the easiest ways to save articles that you have found on the library databases is through Zotero. Zotero is a free resource management and citation tool available at Zotero.org that you can use to save and organize articles found on any library database and also on open web resources like PubMed.
The tutorial posted below will explain how to download and install Zotero and use its basic features. If afterward you think you might be interested in Zotero's advanced functions, then you can learn about them on the library's Zotero Guide.
You have the option to set up free personal accounts on individual library databases or on the library's QuickSearch that you can then save articles into.
To create an account on aa database, follow these steps:
1.) First, locate a sign-in or log-in link. For example, on any database or search tool that comes from the major database company EBSCO (such as CINAHL, Academic Search Premier, the QuickSearch tool) you can get started by clicking the Sign In link at the top of the page.
2.) On the sign-in page, locate the link to create a new account.
3.) Create a new account with a username and password of your choice.
These accounts can be used on any database that comes from the same company. For example, you can sign into CINAHL using an account that you set up on the QuickSearch, and vice-versa.
To save articles into a database account:
1.) Sign into your optional database account. It is important to remember that you will not be automatically logged into your account when you access a database through the library database.
2.) Select your article(s). This step will differ slightly depending on the database that you are using. For example, in some databases you will just check a small box to the left of the article. On any EBSCO database, the article will be selected by clicking a folder icon to the right of the article.
3.) The articles will then be saved into the database folder, which you can access in the folder icon at the top of the page.
The main downside of this process is the need to create multiple accounts across different library databases. That is why Zotero or other resource management tools are strongly recommended because they allow you to save any articles from any database or web resource into a personal Zotero library on your laptop or personal computer.
A quick and easy way to save one or several articles is to email them to yourself from their database(s). This may be helpful if you don't have a database account or don't have the time to sign into on.
To email an article to yourself:
1.) First select your article(s). This step will differ slightly depending on your database. For example, in some databases you will just check a small box to the left of the article. On any EBSCO database (CINAHL, MEDLINE), the article will be selected by clicking a folder icon to the right of the article.
2.) Locate the folder at the top of the page where the articles have been saved.
3.) Make sure all the articles that you want to send have been selected.
4.) After entering the folder, select the email option.
5.) You will then be able to send off your selected article(s) to any email address of your choice.
You can use your individual database user accounts to review and save your databases searches by following these instructions:
1.) First, remember to sign into your personal account for whichever library database that you are on.
2.) After you have performed one or several searches, look for the link for your search history. The link name will differ depending on which company the database came from - for example, some databases will use Recent Searches, and all EBSCO databases use Search History. Regardless of the name, the link will usually be located directly below the search fields.
3.) After clicking and revealing your recent searches, you will be provided with options to save searches, make search alerts, and print your search histories.
Also, besides reviewing your search history, you can also use this view option to select different past searches and combine them into new searches using your choice of the AND and OR operators.
Saving searches and search histories on the databases has the same downsides as saving articles on the databases - it requires creating several different accounts, and remembering to sign into those accounts any time you would like to save anything.
As an alternative, you can record your searches as you go using any kind of spreadsheet software (Excel, Pages, Google Spreadsheet) where you can record information like the date you performed a search, specific terms used, limits used, number of results, etc., as seen in the example below.
You can also make separate sheets in the same file for different academic databases. While this is a more time-intensive process, this allows you to save your searches into one centralized location.
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