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Accessing Full Text with Mason Catalog Search

Student Finding Resources 2:39

Last Updated: 17 January, 2025 |  Provide Feedback

Learning Outcome

After using this tutorial, you will be able to get full text of journal articles, news articles, and other online resources as you search the library catalog.

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Begin on the library homepage, library.gmu.edu, and type your search terms into the main search box. For this example, we’ll search for “sea turtle conservation."

    Mason Libraries home page with sea turtle conservation entered into main search bar

  2. Navigate to the Availability category of the Refine Your Results menu on the left-hand side of the page, and select "Available online.”

    Mason Libraries search filters with Available Online called out

  3. Look for a “Download PDF” button on the resource you want to view. If the resource has a “Download PDF” button, select it to open a PDF of the article. A new tab will open. You may be asked to log in with your George Mason credentials.

    Mason Libraries catalog entry with Download PDF button called out

  4. If there is no “Download PDF” button, select the link“Available online.” This opens the full item record.

    Mason Libraries catalog entry with Available Online button called out

  5. Find the section of the item record called “View Online” and the subsection called “Full text availability.”

    Mason Libraries item record with View Online section called out

  6. Under “Full text availability,” the page lists the databases which have access to the article. Take note of the date range under each database to ensure your article is within that scope. Select a database whose date range includes your article’s publication date.

    Mason Libraries item record with database availability called out

  7. A new tab should open to give you access to the full text of the resource. Each content provider has its own look, so if you don’t see full text on the page right away, you may need to look for an “Access options” button, a “download PDF” button, or something similar to view the full text.

    EBSCO database with PDF access button called out

More Resources

If you have questions or need more help, review our other tutorials on finding library resources or reach out to us through Ask a Librarian.