LexisNexis Academic ~ News

Contents & Access | Searching | Display | Exporting Results | Further Assistance

Contents and Access

What does this database contain?
LexisNexis Academic (formerly Academic Universe) is one of the leading providers of electronic news, containing the full text of 6,000 news, business and legal publications. News areas include U.S. national and local news, wire services, television and radio broadcast transcripts, foreign language news, newsletters, political transcripts, policy papers. Updated continuously.

Where do I access this database?
Through the UTSA Library web page (http://www.lib.utsa.edu) under Databases & Article Searching > A - Z
First screen is Quick News Search. For more precise searching, choose the "Guided News Search" tab.

Available off-campus?
Yes, to UTSA faculty, staff and currently enrolled students.

Full Text of articles available online?
Almost all news articles are full-text.

Language of articles?
All materials are in English except for the Non-English Language News which includes Spanish, German, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Italian language articles.

What is the date coverage of citations?
Dates vary, depending upon the source. Some sources go back as far as 1980. Updated daily.

How do I cite sources in Academic Universe?
Choose "Help" from the top bar of the database and "Citing References" to see examples of citing articles from LexisNexis Academic in APA and MLA styles.

List of publications included in this database?
Choose "Sources" at top of each search page to locate individual publication titles. "Source List" link is available next to each search type. List of U.S. Newspapers available on the Internet.

Searching

How do I search in Quick News Search?
Similar to an Internet search, just type in search terms to search all English-language news sources (except medical). Do not use special search terms (and, or, not, truncation, etc.) The database will connect your terms with "or." To make a phrase, enter the terms in quotes: "pink floyd". Will search headline, lead paragraph and index terms but NOT full text. Results limited to 125 items from past two years. For more precise searching, choose Guided News Search (recommended).

How do I search in Guided News Search?
Select a news category in the top drop down menu and a news source in the second search box. The second box selections will change depending on what is chosen in the first box. Default search in Guided is for a phrase. Click on "Source List" to browse sources and paste publications to search.

Basic search terms in Guided News Search?

and (will narrow your search)
or (will broaden your search)
and not (term must not appear)
Atleastn (how many times a term must appear in the document)

w/n (within n words of the first term, any order)
w/p (within the same paragraph)
w/s (within the same sentence)

Truncation?

Use the Exclamation Mark (!) to automatically retrieve most plural and possessive forms of words. The Asterisk (*) serves as a placeholder for a character within a word and it is possible to use more than one asterisk in a word. Examples:
child! Retrieves child's, children, children's and any word beginning with child (childbearing, childless, or childhood)
child*** retrieves children, children's or childish
wom*n retrieves woman, woman's, women, and women's

What fields are available for searching?
Varies slightly by news category. To choose a particular field in Guided News Search, select Headline, Headline and Lead Paragraph, Caption, Full Text or Author.

How do I limit to a particular publication?
If you know that a particular publication is in Academic Universe, type the name of the publication in the "Search This Publication Title" box. A better way is to click on "Sources" at top of page, locate the publication and click "Search This Title" to have it entered on your search screen. Sources can also be chosen from "Source List" next to search box.

How do I limit by Date?
Use the pull-down menu to select a predefined date range or enter your own custom date range. Default is past six months.

How do I view all the articles in a particular publication by date?
Enter PUBLICATION(Name of publication) in one of the search boxes and select "Full Text" in the drop down box. Enter the date or date range you wish to view in the date section.

Can I search a particular section of the newspaper?
Enter SECTION(Name of section) in one of the search boxes and choose "Full Text" in the drow down menu. Examples of sections include sport!, review!, book review!, editorial, letter, arts. Section names will vary by newspaper.

Is the search case sensitive?
No. However, you can specifiy ALLCAPS, NOCAPS, and CAPS. Example:
ALLCAPS (era) retrieves ERA (Equal Rights Amendment or batting average)
NOCAPS (era) retrieves era (time)
CAPS (era) retrieves Era (laundry detergent)

How do I search for a name?
Use the W/3 connector to join a person's first name and last name. The W/3 connector finds the first name within three or fewer words of the last name in any order. Example: John w/2 Doe will retrieve "John Doe", "John W C Doe" or "John Charles Doe".

Can I limit by length of article?
Yes. In Guided News Search, enter as one of your search terms "length>" or "length<" in full text to get articles either longer or shorter than a specified number of words. Example: "length>1000" in full text will retrieve only article greater than 1000 words.

Display

How do I sort my search results?
Quick News Search returns results in Relevance order, but can be sorted by date.
Guided News Search returns results in date order, but can be sorted by relevance.

How do I display my search results?
There are four search views available by clicking the tab of an individual result:
Document list (search results are automatically returned in this format)
Expanded list (provides headlines/bylines from your search results)
KWIC (shows the paragraphs that contain your search term or phrase. It also shows indexing terms.)
Full format (full text of search results)

Printing, Downloading, E-mailing

How do I print my list of citations?
From the file menu choose "print" or click on the print button. Or use the print tab on the navigation bar to select the citations for printing or saving through your browser.

Can I download or save the list?
Yes. At public terminals, choose "File" from the pull down menu at the top of your browser; choose "save as"; type in a:\mydoc.txt (for floppy); e:\mydoc.txt (for zip drive) or f:\mydoc.txt (for flash drive). Make sure you give each file a unique name if you are saving more than one. Choose "save file type as" and select "Plain Text"; Click on OK.

Can I e-mail an article to myself?
Yes. While viewing complete article, click on "e-mail" on top toolbar, enter e-mail address and click "E-mail." Only one full text article can be mailed at one time. However, multiple citations can be mailed together.

Help

Where do I go for more help?
Click on "Tips" at the top of the page for helpful searching tips. Also, click on "Help" at top of screen for more detailed instructions. Printable Guides available from LexisNexis. Or ask at the Reference Desk for assistance: (210) 458-4573 1604 Campus or (210) 458-2446 UTSA Downtown Library.

What other databases/indexes would give me more information like this?
Electronic: Access World News, Global NewsBank, National Newspapers (via ProQuest), Newspaper Source (EBSCO).
See also: Finding News Resources at the UTSA Library.

4/20/07 rlw