Although SuperSearch can be a great starting place, it can be challenging to find the most relevant material in a flood of results. More specialized databases, like the ones below, can provide a "less is more" experience, by helping to focus your search on articles and books in your area of interest, with an emphasis on scholarly sources. Some individual databases will also turn up results that SuperSearch misses. It always helps to search a few databases for the best coverage. Even when there's considerable overlap in content, the different search capabilities and features of each database can help you find different sources.
History
Peer reviewed articles and book reviews of American and Canadian history, prehistory to present and searchable by historical time period.
Peer reviewed articles and book reviews of world history (excluding the US and Canada), 1450 CE to present and searchable by historical time period.
Art, Film, & Literature
Politics
Political science resources, including scholarly and peer reviewed journal articles and think tank reports. Covers international as well as U.S. topics and sources.
Multidisciplinary
Scholarly journal articles and books in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Does not include the most recent 3-5 years of many journals.
Full text newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic, minority and Native presses. Filter by ethnic group and language.
Dates: 1960 CE-Present
Start with a keyword search. Once you find a book that's relevant to your topic, click on the title and look for the Subjects listed for that book to help you find "more like this" and explore related aspects of a broader topic.
Example: Keyword search: black abolitionists
Subject terms for the books that come up in this keyword search lead you to many more books on aspects of the topic, for example:
African American Abolitionists
Antislavery Movements
Slave insurrections
Slavery -- Law and Legislation -- United States
Political Violence -- United States History