This guide provides some useful starting places and strategies for doing research for this course. We're happy to consult with you on any aspect of your research, from developing a research question to finding, evaluating, and citing sources.
Email or make an appointment with Karen
(Research Librarian for English, American Studies, & more)
Email Carol (Music Librarian)
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. It's always a good idea to search in more than one database. Even when there is considerable overlap in content, the different features of each database can help you find different sources. Check out our full Database A-Z list and sort by Subject to find other databases for your topic.
Search Tip: Some databases search a relatively small amount of information about each source by default, rather than the full text of the source itself. Trying a variety of keywords is often essential to getting good results in many databases. Make note of relevant keywords and subject terms that come up in your initial searches, and use those terms to find more.
A full text database containing articles and audio interviews from mainstream and popular music magazines.
Dates: 1948 CE-Present
Scholarly journal and magazine articles on all aspects of music.
Dates: 1973 CE-present
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles and books on music and musicians. Covers all genres of music from all over the world.
Peer reviewed articles and book reviews of American and Canadian history, prehistory to present and searchable by historical time period.
Full text newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic, minority and Native presses. Filter by ethnic group and language.
Dates: 1960 CE-Present
Full-text newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles from alternative, radical, and independent presses, mostly in the United States.
Dates: 1967 CE-Present
Full-text scholarly articles in all disciplines.
Scholarly journal articles and books in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Does not include the most recent 3-5 years of many journals.
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: protest* AND song*
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:
Music -- Political aspects -- United States
Protest Songs -- History and Criticism
Protest Songs -- United States
Popular Music -- Political Aspects
Rap Music -- Political Aspects
(For tips on keyword searching, such as using the asterisk * for wildcard searching, see the Search Tips & Tutorials page of this guide.)
Historical newspaper and magazine articles can provide reviews, interviews, and other news related to a song or text around the time it was released or performed. They can also provide contemporary perspectives on events of the time relevant to your analysis. Use the publication date filter to limit results to the time period of interest to you.
Dig back into articles and interviews from mainstream and popular music magazines from 1948 on.
Full-text historical news articles in major American and British newspapers, including the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post and more.
Dates: 1791-2003 CE
Full-text newspaper, magazine, and scholarly journal articles from alternative, radical, and independent presses, mostly in the United States, back to 1967.
Full text of more than 1,000 historical U.S. newspapers. Contains Early American Newspapers, 1690-1922, and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998.
Dates: 1690-1998 CE
Full text of alternative press newspapers, magazines, and journals, produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press, and alternative literary magazines.
Dates: 1950-2023 CE
Primary sources documenting a period of dramatic change, with a focus on music, politics, fashion, student activism, women's liberation, gay and lesbian rights, consumerism, and other areas. Materials include video, advertisements, pamphlets, magazines, government documents, posters, memorabilia, and more.
Dates: 1930s-1990s CE
Can't find what you're looking for at Wellesley?
Use Interlibrary Loan to request directly from libraries worldwide.