Find journal articles by topic
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
A large multidisciplinary database providing articles from scholarly journals and magazines.
- Gale Literature This link opens in a new windowIncludes literary criticism, author biographies, work overviews, and articles from the Gale databases Contemporary Authors Online, Literature Criticism Online, Literature Resource Center, Scribner Writers, Something About the Author, and Twayne's Authors.
- MLA Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes articles from journals worldwide that cover literary criticism and theory, language, linguistics and folklore.
- Proquest Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window
Provides 650 journals on art, architecture, design, history, philosophy, music, literature, theater and cultural studies.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAn archive of full-text academic journals and ebooks from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Now also includes the image database ArtStor. Journals in JSTOR have an embargo, which means that most journals do not include the most recent approximately 3 to 5 years of issues.
- Film and Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window
A bibliographic database covering the entire spectrum of television and film writing.
- Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
Covers scholarly sources in the humanities. 1984 to the present.
- Literary Reference Source This link opens in a new window
A full-text database that covers topics on literary works and criticism from reference works, books, and literary journals.
- International Bibliography of Theater and Dance This link opens in a new window
Indexes journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations on all aspects of theatre and the performing arts.
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Search Tips
Whether you are searching on the library website or Google, most searches default to Keyword searches.
A Keyword search looks for words anywhere in the title, summary, content, or metadata of an item. Keyword searches are a good substitute for a subject search when you do not know the standard subject heading. Keyword may also be used as a substitute for a title or author search when you have incomplete title or author information.
- Use this type of search technique when you are getting a feel for your topic and you are finding general information on a topic or subject.
- For example: a keyword search for "Thomas Jefferson" will give you results for items about and written by him. If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas."
- As you search for information on your topic you will develop your own vocabulary and terms related your topic. Keeping track of searches that worked well or create lists of synonyms of your keywords to improve your searching.
This search looks for the name of the author, editor, creator, or translator of an item.
- Use this search when you know the name of the author, editor, creator, or translator of a item.
- Tip: search last name, first name, for example "Jefferson, Thomas." If you don't find the author you are looking for, try a keyword search instead. Be mindful of aliases for example: Mark Twain and Samuel Clemens are the same person. Similarly with Christopher Wallace, better known as the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or Biggie.
- Tip: States, institutions or museums can be listed as authors. Try searching a state, institution, or museums to see what they have published. For example: Rhode Island, Harvard University, American National Red Cross, or Boston Museum of Fine Art.
- If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas." If you enter a name as a subject, the items you see in the search results will be about them, not necessarily written by them. A keyword search will return anything containing the name "Thomas Jefferson".
This search looks for the exact words you entered as the title of an item. If you don't know the exact title, try using a Keyword Search instead.
- Use this when you know the exact title of a book, exhibition catalog, or journal.
A subject search is more specific than a keyword search. Subject headings are a predetermined list of possible terms, which reflect the content of the item. Most academic libraries use Library of Congress Subject Headings. Subject headings are not always intuitive.
- Use this type of search when you want to find information which reflects the about-ness of a topic.
- If you want to find items written by Thomas Jefferson use an author search and enter "Jefferson, Thomas." If you enter a name as a subject, the items you see in the search results will be about them, not necessarily written by them. A keyword search will return anything containing the name "Thomas Jefferson".
*Subject searching is found on advanced search page