OWHL Guides: Scholars Research Toolkit: Search & Find

Scholarly Sources in the Library

Scholarly sources analyze, interpret, or offer new insights into a topic both by engaging with both primary sources and other scholarly sources or research on the same topic.

Databases

Use them to search a lot of different journals, books, newspapers, etc. all at once! Search them with keywords to find articles and other sources that discuss your topic.

JSTOR
This multidisciplinary database provides access to full text scholarly journals, mainly in the humanities and social sciences.
EBSCOhost Academic Search Elite
This multidisciplinary database provides the full text of more than 2,100 journals, including more than 1,700 peer-reviewed titles.
Gale Academic OneFile
This database provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources, including Nature, The Economist and Classical Studies. In addition, it contains hundreds of podcasts and transcripts from NPR, CNN, and the CBC.
Project MUSE
This database provides access to a comprehensive selection of prestigious humanities and social sciences journals, including Mexican Studies, US Latino & Oral History.
ProQuest Research Library
This database provides access to scholarly and popular press articles covering a wide range of topics, including business, education, general interest, health, humanities, international, law, military, multicultural, psychology, sciences, social sciences, and women’s interests.
ProQuest Social Science Database
This database offers the full text of hundreds of academic journals, providing extensive coverage across a wide range of disciplines including anthropology, communication, criminology, economics, education, political science, psychology, social work, and sociology.

Full-Text Finder!

Use the Full-Text Finder to search individual journals (journals related to your topic specifically or historical journals in general). Search journals with keywords related to your topic or look up specific articles that you already know exist.

Full Text Finder

Find Books & Ebooks

Print Books & Resources

Visit the Welcome Desk to take a look at the books on Reserve! You can check these books out and use them in the library for up to 2 hours. To find Reserves books and more, search the catalog below using keywords that relate to your topic. Try a very short phrase or a single word.

E-Book Databases

**In Noodleools, answer the questions like this for the correct citation form: "Where is it?" > Database; "What is it?" > Book

ProQuest E-Book Central
A vast collection of eBooks on all academic topics from scholarly publishers. All books available in eBook Central can also be found through the OWHL's catalog.
Ebooks on EBSCOhost
Provides access to thousands of ebooks on various subject matters.

E-Book/Digitized Book Websites

**In Noodleools, answer the questions like this for the correct citation form: "Where is it?" > Website; "What is it?" > Book

Internet Archive - Online Options Abound
Start by creating a FREE account using your personal email address (this will allow you to access books after you leave P.A.). Search for access to all the free e-books that have been scanned by institutions.
Hathi Trust
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic and research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.

Developing Search Terms / Keywords

Keywords are...

A good way to start a search.
The important concepts in your own words.
Found anywhere in the article (title, author, subject terms, etc.).
Very flexible.

Connecting concepts...

Join similar ideas or alternate terms with "OR."
Link different parts of your topic with "AND."
Exclude concepts with "NOT."

Limit to Peer-Reviewed, Referred or Scholarly articles...

This is part of the publication & editorial process for academic and research journals. Being peer-reviewed is a sign that a paper's author(s) have done a certain level of due diligence in their work and their research is complete, manages conflicts-of-interest, and is fair and objective.

Narrow the Date Range...

When looking for current research or research produced during a specific period of time limit your date range to the relevant timeframe.

Keyword Example

Below is an example to demonstrate how the main concepts from a research topic or question become keywords and how synonyms or related terms can broaden your search:

Now that you've created your list of keywords, you will need to combine them using BOOLEAN operators (AND and OR):

Keyword Worksheet

Keyword Generator (University of Texas)

Keyword Generator from the University of Texas Libraries

Search Tip!

When you find a book, article, or other publication that is relevant to your topic, ALWAYS check the bibliography for citations to more useful sources and then ask a librarian for help locating them.