Collins Memorial Library: SSI1-132: Wild Things: 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. Selecting the best or most appropriate finding aid for identifying sources depends almost entirely on the context of your research assignment. 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.

Library catalog searches (i.e., Primo) can be the better choice when you are seeking in-depth, book-length treatments of a topic.

Multidisciplinary databases (i.e., JSTOR) can be the most appropriate choice when you just want to get a sense of what's available on a topic and when it isn't so important that you pay attention to disciplinary lenses.

Subject databases (i.e., MLA International Bibliography) are the best choice for identifying the widest range of sources on a topic within a specific academic discipline. Recommended subject databases for each discipline can be found on the "articles" tab in each library subject guide.

Recommended Subject Databases

Depending on your topic and your angle, you may wish to search additional subject databases.

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present.
GreenFILE
Offers information covering all aspects of human impact on the environment.
Literature Criticism
Includes overviews by topic, author, and work, as well as excerpts from articles, books, and essays written by scholars.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
The key database for literature, linguistics, and related areas.
Gender Studies Database
Covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia.
Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts and indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences.

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.
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.

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 -- 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.

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.

Tipasa: Interlibrary Loan

If your article is not available at Collins Library, you've got another option for getting it. Use Tipasa, our interlibrary loan service.

Tipasa is linked to your library account so you'll need to log in to use it.

Once you are logged in, either go directly to Tipasa and manually enter the information, or, if you're using a database, look for a shortcut link to automatically fill out the form:

Allow at least a week for the article to come. If your article is delivered in electronic format, you'll receive an email with a link to follow as soon as it's arrived.