Sometimes you can ease your frustration by using advanced searching techniques. Frequently, though, it's not a question of mastering search engines. Rather, it's a question of identifying the appropriate tool in the first place. The Internet is wonderful, and can provide material we have never had access to before, but it is not necessarily the first place to go for college-level research.
Reference librarians know where to look and are happy to help.
The Internet is one of the best places to look. Try Steely Library's list of online organizations . The periodicals published on the Web make up a small minority of the periodicals available, and even fewer are available online for free. You can probably find today's issue on the Web, but for most magazine and journal articles, you will have better luck with the databases subscribed to by Steely Library, many of which offer full-text articles from both current and past issues. The 'Net is a possibility, although a reference book is often faster and usually more reliable.