LibGuides: Tutor Guide: Databases

Why Use Databases?

If you are looking for a quick way to find a plethora of potential sources for a paper or project, databases are the place to search. On the library homepage, click on the Databases tab at the top. The databases are listed alphabetically here, but are also listed by subject in the Research Guides.

The research library at the Rijksmuseum, photo courtesy of Jan Sluijer

What if I Still Can't Find Enough Articles?

To find more articles in the databases, try varying your search terms. Try alternate spellings and synonyms, pay attention to terms field experts use in their articles, and try using related terms and concepts in your searches. You can also meet with a librarian at the reference desk for help refining your searches and locating additional source material.

General Searching

For general searches or for beginning your research, here are some good databases to start with.

Academic Search Premier
A good place to start research on most any subject. This multi-disciplinary database indexes nearly 8,050 publications and provides full text for nearly 4,600, including more than 3,900 peer-reviewed journals. Access is provided by eLibraryMN (ELM).
EBSCO MegaFILE
A multi-disciplinary database providing full text for over 19,000 publications and indexing for nearly 24,000 publications. Comprised of the Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, and Regional Business News databases.
Google Scholar
This search engine points toward scholarly research rather than all Web-based sources. It is stronger in the sciences than in the humanities, with social sciences somewhere in between. One interesting feature of Google Scholar is that in includes a link to sources that cite a particular item. Not all of the articles in Google Scholar are free; the library can obtain many of them for you through Interlibrary loan.
JSTOR
Full-text backfiles to over 350 scholarly journals from more than 25 academic disciplines published between the 19th and 21st centuries in the JSTOR Arts & Sciences I, Arts & Sciences II, and Language & Literature collections. JSTOR provides complete journal backruns from the date of initial publication up to a "moving wall" of 3 to 5 years before the present year. To limit your search to full text articles, make sure that the option to "include links to external content" is turned off.
Sage Premier
Indexes over 500 scholarly journals published by SAGE in a range of disciplines, including many social sciences titles. Includes current full text for over 30 journals and back issues for hundreds of journals. Many journals include full backfiles - back to 1960s or earlier. To search articles by discipline, click "Browse" > "Journals by discipline."