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Liberal Arts Database Information (Humanities and Social Sciences)

Almost any database could be appropriate for a Liberal Arts paper or project. This page will provide you with information on the databases covering the social sciences and humanities, which are the focus of many of the courses  in the College Studies program.

Click on the names below to see more information about the databases and systems.


Academic Search Premier
(EBSCO)


Access World News

America
History and Life

(EBSCO)

 Biography Resource Center

CIAO 


CountryWatch


Facts on File

FirstSearch

GreenFile
(EBSCO)

Historical Abstracts
(EBSCO)
Lexis Nexis

Literature Resource Center

NewsBank Project Muse ProQuest
  SocINDEX +Fulltext
(EBSCO) 
  Additional
Resources
 

Academic Search Premier
This database is part of the EBSCO system, and  Like ProQuest's Research Library database and its associated Modules, Academic Search Premier is multi-disciplinary, and therefore a good place to get started with your research. The full text of articles from magazines and scholarly journals covering a variety of subjects are available. Academic Search Premier should be used in conjunction with other databases, as different databases and systems include different mixes of sources.
Click here to connect.

Access World News
Part of the NewsBank System, Access World News provides the full text of 500 U.S. newspapers, in addition to several newspapers from around the world that are not included in Lexis Nexis. Access World News is good to use when looking for local or metropolitan U.S. newspapers, and in conjunction with Lexis Nexis for global / world news. Articles can be e-mailed or printed.
Click here to connect.

America: History and Life
Is an index (not full text) to publications covering US and Canadian history.  Articles cover information dating from "prehistory to the present." The publications these articles are in date from 1964 to current.
Use Interlibrary Loan Services to obtain fulltext of articles that are not linked to fulltext holdings in our other systems and databases.
Click here to connect.

Biography Resource Center
Includes over 220,000 biographies and full-text articles drawn from several  Gale Group publications and over 250 magazines. Contemporary Designers, Contemporary Authors, Business Leader Profiles for Students are some of the Gale publications included in this resource.
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CIAO
Columbia University Press's International Affairs database, CIAO, is recognized as one of the leading databases in providing access to full-text reports from a unique group of international organizations, including the Cato Institute, The Conference Board, and the East West Institute. It publishes a wide range of scholarship from 1991 onward that includes working papers from university research institutes, occasional papers series from NGOs, foundation-funded research projects, proceedings from conferences, books, journals and policy briefs.
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CountryWatch
Provides overviews and data for close to 200 countries. CountryWatch Reviews are in pdf format, and range from 50-100 pages in length. They include information on the country's history, economic, environmental and social climates, in addition to pressing contemporary issues. Reviews are updated every other year, or when a major event occurs. Access to international newswire stories are also available, and a one-year archive of news.
Click here to connect.
 
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Facts on File
The Facts on File suite includes three databases: World News Digest, Issues and Controversies, and Today's Science. Facts on File is a good source for information on significant news and events worldwide, dating from 1980 to the current day. Editorials from major newspapers, biographies, information on foreign countries, and coverage of controversial issues are included, in addition to photographs and maps. The three databases are searchable as well as browse-able by topic, to make searching easier.
Click here to connect.
 

First Search
First Search offers several specialized databases in various areas. The databases are not full-text. FirstSearch provides access to WorldCat, a database of library holdings of libraries worldwide, and also of evaluated  internet sites.  Other FirstSearch databases provide indexing and abstracting information, and indicate whether Gutman Library has holdings of particular books and journals. First Search offers e-mail capability. To find out more about FirstSearch databases, connect to FirstSearch, click on "List All Databases," and click the icon next to the database name and description.
Click here to connect.
 

Gale Literature Resource Center: provides access to biographies, bibliographies and critical analysis of authors from every age and literary discipline. Search by Author Name, Title, Genre, Literary Movement or Literary Themes, or combine criteria to create a highly-targeted custom search path. Information from this database can be e-mailed, saved, or printed.
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GreenFILE
Covers many aspects of environmental sustainability, including architecture.  GreenFILE provides mostly indexing and abstracting, with some fulltext linking from the database's records to fulltext sources available from other EBSCO databases to which the library subscribes, or to fulltext via other systems and e-journal collections.
Click here to connect (link under construction)

Historical Abstracts
Includes abstracts (not full text) for materials about world history from 1450, excluding the history of Canada and the United States, which is covered by America: History & Life.
Click here to connect.

Lexis/Nexis
Provides access to thousands of full-text newspaper, magazines, journals and documents from a wide range of global sources. Sources are categorized into five major areas: news, business, medical, legal research and general reference. This database provides more popular, general interest and trade/industry publications, while it is weak on scholarly literature. Articles can be e-mailed.
Click here to connect.
 

NewBank

NewsBank is  a database system to which Gutman Library subscribes in order to provide access to the two primary Philadelphia metropolitan newspapers, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News. The full-text of Inquirer articles is available from 1981 to the present, and the full-text of the Daily News is available from 1978 to the present. See "Access World News" (above) for additional information.
Click here to connect.
 
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Project Muse
Project Muse is a collection of  journals covering the fields of literature, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and many others. Gutman  Library has full-text access to the journals in Muse's  Social Sciences Collection. Indexing and abstracting is available for Muse titles in other Collections. Individual journals may be browsed, or all Collections can be searched at once. 
Click here to connect.
 

ProQuest offers access to multiple research databases, containing mostly full-text articles from magazines and scholarly journals. A few ProQuest databases include:
 

  • ProQuest Research Library includes several specialized

            Modules, including Humanities, General Interest, Social Sciences, Psychology, International,

            Multicultural, and Women's Issues.

  • Health & Medical Complete contains many fulltext articles from medical publications
  • ABI/INFORM  Databases including Global, Trade & Industry, and Dateline
  • ProQuest Newspapers includes the  Wall Street Journal (last 20 years) and the New York Times

           (last 4 years) plus many national newspapers

Proquest is a good system to use to get started with your research. You may also need to use more specialized databases such as SocINDEX (below), or an e-journal collection like Project MUSE (above).
Click here to connect.

 SocINDEX +Fulltext
Many articles are available in fulltext, but not all. SocINDEX + Fulltext  is a sociology database, but it also includes sub-disciplines and related topics.  Some of the areas of study included in addition to sociology are: demography, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, religion, rural & urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, sociological history, sociological research, sociological theory, substance abuse & other addictions, violence and many others. Use the Subject Terms in SocINDEX to help you find relevant articles. Use Interlibrary Loan Services to help you obtain fulltext for articles we do not own or have online access to via Gutman Library.
Click here to connect.

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WHERE ELSE CAN I LOOK?

In addition, students might want to explore:

  • NetLibrary -- a collection of searchable E-Books.
     
  • SpringerLink -- one of  the E-Journal collections to which Gutman subscribes. SpringerLink  is used primarily for science and technology, but also contains social science and humanities journals. Most physical sciences are represented, as well as computer science, materials science and health science. We have fulltext access to a large portion of SpringerLink journals, but not the entire collection. Articles available in fulltext will appear in your search results list with the green rectangle icon.
     
  • Credo Reference is a compendium of over 100 reference sources (dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.) covering a wide range of subject areas. Students and faculty will find it useful for the following general references: The database can be searched by keyword, so information can be retrieved on topics from multiple sources.

For additional information, contact Jordana Shane at shanej@philau.edu

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