Collins Memorial Library: SSI2-141: Architectures of Power: Secondary Sources: Articles

Where Do I Search?

A good starting point for academic work is one or more of the many databases available through the library's website. Databases provide access and content to sources that are generally not available on the open web through a general search engine like Google.

Every database contains only certain types and amounts of information. There is no single database or web search interface that will work for every research context; instead, you'll need to match your specific research needs to a variety of options.

Multidisciplinary databases cover a wide variety of subject areas and may include a mix of popular and scholarly sources. They are good resources when you begin your research. Academic Search Premier is an example of a multidisciplinary database.

Subject databases cover a specific discipline and provide the widest range of access to scholarly sources. They are used for in-depth research. Communication & Mass Media Complete is an example of a subject database. Which subject databases you search will be determined by who may be writing about your topic.

General Database Search Tips

Try these strategies to become a better, more efficient searcher -- and help you find articles that you can actually use:

Build your search vocabulary -- keep a running list of key words, phrases, concepts, synonyms, and any related terms or ideas that you find.
Use advanced search features -- narrow your search with "AND," expand your search with "OR," or search in specified fields (i.e., author, title, publication, abstract).
Use search limits -- control the types of results you get (academic journals? language?) and how they are displayed (date? relevance?) so that you're only looking at results you can use.
Try multiple searches and evaluate your results -- try to figure out why you got the results you did, and adjust your search until you get closer to results you can use.
Use database descriptors -- once you find an article that looks good, see what descriptors or "subject headings" were assigned to it in the database. You can use these to search only for articles that have the same descriptors attached.

Recommended Subject Databases

These subject databases may be especially useful for your research project for this class.

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles, books, essays in books, and dissertations on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
Communication & Mass Media Complete
Provides access to research in areas related to communication and mass media.
Gender Studies Database
Covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
The key database for identifying scholarly books, essays, articles, and dissertations on modern literature in all languages. Also covers cultural studies, folklore, film studies, and linguistics.
Philosophers Index
Covers scholarly research in all major fields of philosophy.
Political Science Complete
Good for researching the political implications of digital technologies and social media.
PsycINFO
Main database for psychology and related behavioral sciences. Good for finding psychological perspectives on, for example, digital or social media and isolation or anxiety.
Sociological Abstracts
Database for scholars in sociology and related disciplines. [Add "United States" as a keyword search to reduce the number of results.]

Multidisciplinary Databases

The databases listed below are examples of multidisciplinary finding aids.

Note: If you need discipline-specific resources, it is better to use the recommended subject databases under the "articles" tab in the library subject guides.

Academic Search Premier
A multidisciplinary database containing full text journal, magazine & newspaper articles, many from peer-reviewed titles. This scholarly collection covers information in nearly every area of academic study.
JSTOR
An interdisciplinary journal archive. It includes archives of over one thousand leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, as well as select monographs and other materials valuable for academic work. Includes the Artstor image collections.
Project MUSE
Interdisciplinary database includes books and articles from scholarly publishers with focus on humanities and social science.
ProQuest Central
Covering more than 160 subject areas, ProQuest Central is a large aggregated database of periodical content. It features a diversified mix of content including scholarly journals, trade publications, magazines, books, newspapers, reports and videos.

Reading a Scholarly Article

During the preview phase, you'll want to concentrate on these key elements:

Abstract (if available)
First paragraph (sometimes the second paragraph, too): What does the author want to find out? What is the research question the author is asking?
Evidence: What are the primary sources the author uses?
Scholarly conversation: What are the other scholarly works (secondary sources) the author uses?
Conclusion (typically the last paragraph): How does the author tie the evidence together to answer the research question? What is the significance of this research?

Once you've selected the article, you can actively read for content, argument, analysis and evaluation.

Tip: Read the article more than once! It may help to print out a copy so that you can make notes.