Library Research Guides: AMST 327: Beyoncé, J-Lo, and Other Divas: Find Scholarly Sources

SuperSearch Advanced Search

SuperSearch can be a great place to start to find out what's out there on your topic. SuperSearch will find books, journal articles, films, news, and almost everything else the library has — from popular to scholarly sources. You can use the filters on the results screen to improve your results.

For searching with more focus and precision, try one of the databases recommended on this guide.

You can use the filters to focus your search. Scroll down to Source Types, and choose Show More to see all types. Choosing Books, eBooks, and Academic Journals will help you narrow in on scholarly sources. (Not all books will be scholarly, but many will be.)

Key Databases with Scholarly Sources

The databases listed here are just a selection of what is available through Wellesley. See our Databases A-Z list and browse by Subject to find other databases relevant to your research.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature This link opens in a new window
Citations and abstracts for significant writings on music: journal articles, conference proceedings, Festschrifts, books & dissertations, 1967 to present
Music Index This link opens in a new window
Citations to articles on all aspects of music, with links to the full text, 1973 to present.
Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
Journal articles in the fields of communications, mass media, journalism, television, radio, newspaper publishing, speech, broadcasting, communication theory, and advertising, with full text for over 500 journals.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
In addition to newspapers and magazines, this interdisciplinary database contains scholarly articles from a range of ethnic, minority and native presses (such as the Journal of Hip Hop Studies, Black Music Research Journal, and Revista de Música Latinoamericana). Includes content in English and Spanish.
GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
With a focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas, this collection gathers historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community, and changes in gender roles, including articles dating back as far as the 1970s.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Indexes international scholarly literature in sociology, 1952 to present.
ARTbibliographies Modern This link opens in a new window
Modern & contemporary artists, art movements, art history and theory, design, photography, new media and crafts, 1974 to present

Multidisciplinary Databases

These databases contain citations & full text for scholarly articles in a variety of fields.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
The world's largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database. Dates of coverage vary by title and go back as far as 1887.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Collection of key scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences & natural sciences, starting from the first issue but typically not the most recent 3-5 years.
Arts & Humanities Citation Index This link opens in a new window
Index to scholarly articles in the arts and humanities, 1975 to present. Search for articles that cite known journal articles or books
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Academic journals and books in the humanities and social sciences.

Search the Library Catalog

Catalog Search Tips

Why should I search the library catalog?

The library catalog is another way to search for books, ebooks, and videos. Although SuperSearch includes the library catalog, searching the catalog separately can give you a smaller, more focused set of results. While SuperSearch will search inside many books, for example, the library catalog will just search information about each book (what is often called metadata). This can be very helpful for relevancy (since you'll only get results in which your search terms are important enough to be included in the metadata), but it means the specific terms you choose become more important. Try a variety of keywords, and use what you find to find more. You can also use the subject terms to browse related materials.

Try a keyword search. Once you find a book that's relevant to your topic, click on the title and look for Subjects in the record of that book to help you find "more like this."

Sample keyword search for

feminist "hip hop"

leads to linked subject terms and more books related to this topic, e.g.,

Search Tips

Use AND to combine terms in your search: hip hop AND politics

Use OR to expand results: gender OR femininity OR masculinity

Use * to find variant endings, or as a wild card: wom*n latin*

Use " " to search words as a phrase: "hip hop"

Book Locations and Maps

Quick Guide to Clapp Library Locations

Call # / Location
Books & Videos A-DZ Knapp Multimedia Ctr Computer Classroom	First Floor
Computing Help Desk Research Help Desk Reference Books Science Collection Documents Reserves	Second Floor
Books & Videos E-PM PLTC	Third Floor
Books & Videos PN-Z Archives Special Collections Book Arts Lab	Fourth Floor