Specialized databases can help you focus your search on articles and books in your area of interest, with an emphasis on scholarly sources. They will also turn up results that SuperSearch misses. It's always a good idea to try more than one database. Even when there's considerable overlap in content, the different features of each database will help you find different sources. See the Search Tips & Tutorials page of this guide for some search techniques and strategies.
Scholarly articles on literature, languages, linguistics, film, folklore, and rhetoric, from all cultures.
MLA Search Tip: MLA International Bibliography is an index, which means you're searching a small amount of information about each source, rather the contents of the source itself. Trying a variety of keywords is often essential to getting the best results in MLA. Make note of relevant keywords and subject terms that come up in your initial searches, and use those terms to find more. The MLA Thesaurus, linked at the top of the search screen, can also be helpful for identifying search terms.
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.
Peer reviewed articles and book reviews of world history (excluding the US and Canada), 1450 CE to present and searchable by historical time period.
Scholarly journal articles and books in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Does not include the most recent 3-5 years of many journals.
Journal articles in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
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: keats AND politics
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:
Keats, John, > 1795-1821 > Political and social views.
Political poetry, English > History and criticism.
Politics and literature > Great Britain > History > 19th century.