Being able to interpret a citation is an important research skill. Mining citations is an effective research strategy for finding related sources, learning about the development of knowledge on a topic, and understanding the origins and development of a theory.

Conventions for documenting sources vary by discipline, but typically a citation tells you enough basic information to go and find the item no matter what style is used (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).

There are three steps in following a citation trail to locate an item at Collins Library.

1. Read the citation to determine what kind of source you are looking for (a book, an article, something else).
2. Choose the essential citation information you need to locate the item.
3. Use Primo to search using the citation information.

Before you can find the full text, you need to understand the parts of a citation.

Example of a Journal Citation

Clausius, Katharina. “Historical Mirroring, Mirroring History: An Aesthetics of Collaboration in Pulcinella.” The Journal of Musicology 30, no. 2 (2013): 215–51. https://doi.org/10.1525/jm.2013.30.2.215. 

Example of a Magazine Citation

"Modern Hawaiian slack-key masters." Guitar Player,  Vol. 28, Iss. 12,  (Dec 1994): 97.

Example of a Book Citation

Secrest, Meryle. Stephen Sondheim : A Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1998.

Example of an Essay in an Anthology or Edited Collection 

Ruccius, Alexis. “The History of Musical Iconography and the Influence of Art History: Pictures as Sources and Interpreters of Musical History.” In The Making of the Humanities: Volume III: The Modern Humanities, edited by Rens Bod, Jaap Maat, and Thijs Weststeijn, 403–12. Amsterdam University Press, 2014.

Once you've identified a citation, your next step is to locate the full text. Whether it's a book, magazine, journal, or newspaper article, check Primo. Use the library map to identify the floor of a physical item.

Searching Primo for a book is pretty straightforward: search by the title of the book and/or the author's (or editor's) name. If you are looking for a chapter or essay in an edited collection or anthology, it's often simpler to search by the title of the book.

Locating individual articles (from a magazine, newspaper, or scholarly journal) in the library catalog is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack. For this reason, searching for the journal first is often a more effective way to find an article. To locate a specific article from a citation, follow these steps:

1. Type in the title of the journal in the Primo search box. Limit the "Material Type" to "Journals"
2. Find the record in our library catalog and determine whether the journal is online or in print.
3. Locate the correct year, volume, and issue number.
4. Locate the article within that issue using the table of contents or the page numbers indicated in the citation. 

Review the notes and bibliography section of the composer biography you've brought to class today, and identity 2-3 sources to locate. Jot down the citations and look for the full text in Primo.

For each of your sources, note your search results. Does the library own or provide access to the item? If yes, where can the full-text be found?

If you have any trouble locating the item, let the librarian know!

If your source is only available in print, you may request books for lobby pickup or request that portions of print books be scanned. To submit a request, make sure you are logged in with your Puget Sound username and password and click the relevant link within Primo (under "Request Options").

If the library doesn't have access to the source, trying requesting it via Summit or Interlibrary Loan, or choose another citation.