Databases are resources that contain information that is organized to make it easier to search and access.
The most common kind of library databases contain articles from academic journals and other publications, but there are many kinds of databases--databases for images, videos, data, news, and many other kinds of sources!
Databases can contain a combination of full-text (ready to read online) and citation information that can lead you to articles, book chapters, or books. In addition to searching literature databases, you may want to search a database in a subject area that relates to a theme you are exploring, such as climate change or gender issues. See Selected Databases in Other Subject Areas below.
Full-text scholarly journal articles and books on all aspects of literature, along with literary reference works (encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, and topic overviews) and the full text of thousands of literary works from the 8th century to the present.
Scholarly articles on literature, languages, linguistics, film, folklore, and rhetoric, from all cultures.
Biographies, topic overviews, reviews, and scholarly analysis of authors and works from all genres, eras, and regions of the world.
Scholarly journal articles and books in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Does not include the most recent 3-5 years of many journals.
The databases here are just a few that could be useful for the kinds of research topics you might be pursuing in this course. Some, like Academic Search Complete, are multidisciplinary. Others, like the America: History and Life or Sociological Abstracts, focus on specific subject areas. Check out our Database A-Z list and sort by Subject to see other databases that could be relevant for your topic.
Full-text scholarly articles in all disciplines.
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.
Articles, magazines, resports, books, and news in all fields of science, many with full text.
A collection of scholarly articles, dissertations, and working papers on sociology, political science, education, economics, anthropology, linguistics, and criminology, which can be searched together or individually.
Scholarly and peer reviewed articles in sociology.
Full-text peer-reviewed articles on gender, sex, and sexuality in history, sociology, psychology, education, art, and more.
Peer reviewed journals, magazines and regional newspapers on topics pertaining to sexuality and gender identity, and includes the full text of many historically significant LGBTQ+ publications.
Dates: 1917 CE-Present
Use quotation marks " " to search words as a phrase. This will narrow your results.
"science fiction"
Use AND to combine multiple concepts in your search. This will narrow your results.
"science fiction" AND gender
Use OR to find different ways your topic could be expressed. This will expand your results. Group these related terms in parentheses, so the database interprets them first. The following search will find results that have any one of the terms in parentheses as well as the phrase "science fiction."
"science fiction" AND (gender OR "sex role" OR femininity OR masculinity)
Use an asterisk * to find variant endings. This will expand your results
"science fiction" AND (gender* OR "sex role" OR feminin* OR ​masculin*)
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Questions? Interlibrary Loan Guide