Handout for Social Work 6443 (Health Care Policy)
Please ask for help at the Reference desk if you are having
trouble finding information on your topic!
Below is the Advanced Search screen for
Academic Search Premier  with  MasterFILE Premier
(certain features have been highlighted)
Advanced search screen for Academic Search Premier with MasterFILE Premier
    To find articles in Full-Text: If a database does not have the full-text of an article the (Article Linker) icon appears alongside the citations in your search results. Clicking this icon will let you:
  1. Find the article in ANOTHER library database, else
  2. If the article is not online in anyway gives you an option to search in the libraries' catalog. You will then copy down the journal's call number and location and find the article on the Libraries' shelves.
  3. If the journal is not available at UMSL then provides a link to Submit an Interlibrary Loan Request. The article will be photocopied from another library and sent to you. You can also choose to see the article online by selecting "E-mail - Electronic Delivery" on the request form. Note: you will need to use your Student ID (not MyGateway ID) to login to the Interlibrary Loan request form.
    BOOKS:
  1. To find books on a given topic go to the UM-St. Louis Library Catalog and search by Subject, such as Older People (this is the Library of Congress subject heading for 'Aged').
  2. You can also search by KeyWords, such as in the examples below:
    (aged or elder*)   and   insur*         (note the asterisks!)
    (aged or elder*)   within 5   insur*

Also search the MOBIUS catalog, which lets you get books from from over 60 academic institutions in Missouri! With MOBIUS you can easily have books sent to the Thomas Jefferson Library. Remember that UMSL is part of the MERLIN cluster.

FOR MORE HELP: You can request a Research Consultation from the libraries' home page or ask for a Research Consultation form at the desk.

Finding the Legislative history of a law using Lexis/Nexis Congressional

  1. Go to the UMSL Libraries’ homepage at: http://www.umsl.edu/library
  2. Click the option for Sorted Alphabetically to go to the alphabetical list of databases
  3. Select: LexisNexis(tm) Congressional
  4. To search for a law select the option for Laws, and at the next screen select the option for Public Laws, which will allow you to “Search the full text of laws from 1988 to present.”
  5. At the search box type in your search, for example: (elder! or aged) w/15 insur!
    • The term '!' at the end of elder! and insur! will search for variants of those terms, such as 'elder', 'elderly', 'elders', etc.
    • The search term (elder! or aged) will look for either of these terms
    • The w/15 will look for elder! or aged within 15 words of insur! and its variants. The number 15 can be changed to a greater or lesser number.
  6. If your search is successful a list of laws will be presented to you. They will be sorted by the most recent laws first.
  7. When you click on a law you will be presented with the FULL-TEXT of the law.
  8. In addition, toward the top of the screen you may be presented with three different options (for most laws, though this might change for older laws). Something like:
    • BILL TRACKING REPORT - For example: 102 Bill Tracking H.R. 2967 -- This will be a history of the law from when it was introduced to when it became law. This screen will present you with information about committees, sponsors, and a legislative chronology. This option will also provide you with the FULL-TEXT of comments and activities by legislators as these were recorded in the Congressional Record.
    • FULL TEXT VERSION(S) OF BILL - For example: 102 H.R. 2967 -- This is the full-text of the bill that was the basis for the law. Some laws can be quite massive compilations of a number of bills.
    • CIS LEGIS. HISTORY DOCUMENT - For example: 102 CIS Legis. Hist. P.L. 375 -- This option will provide a much more abbreviated legislative history (as recorded in the Congressional Record) than what can be found in the Bill Tracking Report option above. However, it will also provide a listing of House and Senate reports as well as a listing of hearings. Sometimes these House and Senate reports will be available online. To get them, go back to Step #4 above but select the option for Publications and then select Documents or Reports. The library should also contain most of these documents in paper form that you can check-out. If so, copy down the SUDOC number in its entirety. For example:

      SUDOC: Y4.Ed8/1:100-89

      - Once you have the SUDOC number, go to the government documents section of the library to find your document. Or better yet, ask for help from a reference librarian.
      - Please also see the Library of Congress' THOMAS legislative site at: http://thomas.loc.gov/