The Surgical Technologist

Over 40,000 surgical technologists, educators, students and other health professionals read this journal each month. This monthly journal is from the Association of Surgical Technologists (AST). The database gives access to issues from 1998 to present. Included in every issue is a clinical article featuring a range of surgical specialties written by fellow healthcare peers; state assembly information, including upcoming events for each state; messages from the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting; and an array of feature articles that differ each month.

This guide will show you how to use "The Surgical Technologist" to find journal articles for your assignments.

Listed below are search strategies, and other helpful hints, for searching "The Surgical Technologist" before starting your own searching.

Let's Begin...

To find “The Surgical Technologist” on the library's website:

• Click on “Research” on the top tool bar
  
• Click on “Resources”
  
• Select the “Resources by Subject” red button.
  
• Click on “Surgical Technology”
  

This is the library page listing all Surgical Technology related databases and guides for the program.

"The Surgical Technologist" is listed under the Journal Databases. Under "The Surgical Technologist" click on “Click here” to access the journal.

Once you click on “The Surgical Technologist” you will be asked to log on. Use the following:

Username: ASTJournal (Ignore the request for an eMail address)

Password: 6GaR@tp8-2

**If you are unable to log into the journal, check to verify your browser is set to collect cookies. You may have to manually add the URL for the journal to your exceptions list.

There are three method to search for articles in the "The Surgical Technologist"

1. You may browse through the collection by year and month at the "Journal Archives".
2. You may use the CE Library to see a collection of articles organized by topics.
3. Use CINAHL Complete to search for articles by keyword terms.

There is no option to directly search for journal articles across "The Surgical Technologist" archives.

You can browse issues in the Journal Archives by month and year to select an issue to read.

The CE Library lists articles by topic.

• Click Earn CE Now to access the Continuing Education Resource Center.
• Scroll down to see a collection of articles organized by topic. Click here to view the collection.
• A Search box is available for topic and articles within this section or you can browse the full list.
• Click on the blue box to read an article.

You will need to have Adobe Reader installed your computer as all articles are in .pdf format.

Articles are free to read. As this is a library subscription, you would need to log in with your own credentials to obtain your own CE credit.

Once you have opened the article, you can print or download a copy of it using those options in Adobe Reader.

You can search CINAHL Complete to find articles in "The Surgical Technologist". You can find CINAHL Complete on the Surgical Technology Library Page under Journal Databases. CLick here to access CINAHL Complete.

1. Select "Publications" in the upper tool bar of CINAHL Complete
2. Type "Surgical Technologist" in the search box of the "Broswing" section
3. Click "Browse"
4. "Mark" the title by check marking the gray square
5. Click "Add"
6. (JN "Surgical Technologist") will appear in the search box on the top of the page
7. Click "Search"
8. You will see a result list of all the articles in "The Surgical Technologist" that is indexed in CINAHL Complete
9. Add your keyword terms in the second search box and the search engine will search your term within the "The Surgical Technologist"

When you see an article that looks interesting, click on the title of it to read the citation.

Press Print from the Tools menu on the right side of the screen to retrieve the information ( year, month volume, issues, page number(s)) you will need to find the article in "The Surgical Technologist".

If you are off-campus, you will need to login with your Trocaire network ID and password.

Keywords are the words you enter into a database or search engine to find information on a topic. You only want to use the main points of the topic as your keywords.

Keywords are critical for effective database searching. They...

• help you focus on a topic.
• help you focus your research.
• eliminate extraneous articles.
• are better for Internet searching too.

Journal Archives is only visible when you first log into the site. Use the back button if you have been browsing the site.

Use the information from CINAHL Complete to find the article you wish to read.

To find the article:

• Flip to the article with your mouse or finger on a device

• Use the arrow buttons on the lower right hand side
  
• Enter the page number you wish to read
• Use the search option to look within the issue

The toolbars in the lower left hand corner allow you to:

• Bookmark
• Download
• Select text
  
• Enlarge or view in full screen
• Print
• Share the article with a QR Code, link, email or social media

You will use the APA citation rules for online journal articles.

Author’s Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year). Title of article. The Surgical Technologist, Volume(Issue), pages. Retrieved from complete URL of article

Miller, K. (2016). Creating history through strength and education. The Surgical Technologist, 48(5), 204. Retrieved from http://www.ast.org/MembersArea/Publications/May_2016/#12

**The hanging indent does not show up in this guide, but is necessary for APA format.

To retrieve the URL from the journal archives section:

• Click the Share icon from the toolbar
• Check the box next to Share current page to get the full URL
• Press Copy to add the URL the clipboard to paste into your citation.

If you are using the CE Library, you can use the URL at the top of .pdf of the article.

For more information on APA Style click here.

You will use the MLA citation rules for online articles for citing "The Surgical Technologist".

Author’s Last Name, Author’s First Name. “Title of Article with Proper Capitals.” The Surgical Technologist, volume, issue, date, pages. Complete URL without http. Date of access (optional).

Miller, Kimberly. "Creating History Through Strength and Education." The Surgical Technologist, vol. 48, no. 5, May 2016, p. 204. www.ast.org/MembersArea/Publications/May_2016/#12. Accessed 28 Sept. 2016.

**The hanging indent does not show up in this guide, but is necessary for MLA format.

Use the instructions above to obtain the URL for your citation.

For more information on MLA Style click here.

Any questions, ask a librarian!

Librarian

Email: gavinj@Trocaire.edu
Website: library.trocaire.edu
Location: 360 Choate Avenue, 4th Floor, Buffalo, NY, United States
Phone: (716) 827-2432