Go to http://www.library.utoronto.ca/, click the Subjects A-Z tab, and scroll down to your topic—i.e. Literature—and click GO.

Using the tabs at the top, you'll find a list of key article databases devoted to your subject area, as well as relevant research guides and online resources such as dictionaries and encyclopedias.

Click on a database title to open it. Most databases will let you narrow your search by language, publication date, and publication type (e.g. journal articles or book reviews), as well as by subject, title, or author.

Some articles are available online; these are called full-text. They should either open right away or after a few clicks. Every year, more and more articles appear in full-text, but the truth is, you can sometimes only find an article in print. If no full-text link appears, try clicking the UTL Get-it button.

In a new window, this button either finds your article online or offers you an automatic catalogue search for the journal title (not the article title) such as the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies. Occasionally, UofT will not have the journal at all—when this happens, you'll get a note saying the article is not available, either online or in print. You'll get the option in this case to submit an Interlibrary Loan request for the article. But be warned—Interlibrary Loan requests can take several days or more.

Getting an article in print means seeking out a range of tomes at one of the UofT libraries and picking out the volume for the year you want. The database can give you a citation (i.e. title, author, journal title, publication date, volume number, etc.), and sometimes even a summary (called an abstract)—but to get the full article, you have do more legwork.

To find a print copy yourself, (1) copy the citation; (2) type the journal title (e.g. International Affairs) into the catalogue search box; (3) limit the search to Journal Title;and (4) make sure the library has the right volumes or years you want. For example, let's suppose the article you want is in the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, volume 14 (2001). If the Kelly Library has the journal, scan the catalogue record to make sure it has the right volume. The Kelly Library, for example, has volumes 16 (2003) onwards, but nothing earlier.

Click the image on the right to try some screencasts on finding scholarly articles at UofT. Scroll down to Finding Articles Using the ATLA Religion Database.