LibGuides: Black Studies: Articles & Databases

Quick Tip

Be sure to use commands, called Boolean Operators, to further specify your search.

Quick Tips for Google

Be clear about what you need and eliminate any extraneous information or words. This means you don't want to type in full sentences or questions, just pull the key words or phrases (just like you would in academic databases).
Boolean Operators work in Google too. See the information above in "Quick Tip" to learn more about Boolean.
Think about who else would care about this information and how they (and therefore you) might phrase it. Looking for information on women married during World War II? You would want to search "war bride" or "GI bride" and not something like "women married during the war."
Don't know much about your topic yet? Start broad and work your way down. For instance, if you are researching the neighborhood of Greenpoint in the 1960's you might want to start by researching the neighborhood first. Run a search for Greenpoint, and then narrow down to your dates as you gather more information and can properly adapt your search.

Information Creation Timeline

Information is created in different formats and at varying times. The formats are usually dependent on the time in which the information is being produced. This process is sometimes called the Information Cycle or Timeline.

Some forms of information do not adhere to this timeline, but rather can be created or modified at any time (for example: social media posts or online encyclopedias).

For more detailed information on these formats see the TRU (Thompson Rivers University) Libraries Information Cycle page.

For more information about utilizing resources from different time periods see our Primary Sources box.

We are indebted to the VIU (Vancouver Island University) Library Information Cycle page for some of this content.

Google and Academic Databases

Google, and more appropriately Google Scholar, can be valid places to search for articles and organizations. However, subject specific databases will have more advanced search options and articles. Here are some key differences between databases and Google.

	Library Databases	Google	Google Scholar
Types of Information You Can Find	Scholarly journal articles Newspaper articles Reviews Theses & dissertations Empirical evidence	Popular, commercial, educational websites Organization websites Directories Current news & events Few free journal articles & books (many academic publications are not free)	Educational websites Theses & dissertations Conference publications & presentations Scholarly journal articles (but access will be restricted to free resources, see below for how to set up SLC links)
Credibility & Review	Subject specific books and articles Evaluated for accuracy and credibility	Lack of control allows anyone to publish material Usually not evaluated for accuracy & credibility	Some resources evaluated for accuracy & credibility, but not through Google, so need to verify review process for each publication
Discovery	Database functionalities allow users to search for & find more relevant results	Less ability to search for & retrieve precise results Not releasing information on algorithms, paid products can float to the top	Less ability to search for & retrieve precise results Not releasing information on algorithms, therefore it is not known why results float to the top

Setting Up Google Scholar for Off-Campus Access to SLC Resources

Suggested Databases

Arts & Humanities Database This link opens in a new window This database features hundreds of titles covering Art, Architecture, Design, History, Philosophy, Music, Literature, Theatre and Cultural Studies. It is designed to complement the following indexes: ABM, Avery, BHA, BHI, DAAI, Index Islamicus, MLA, Philosopher's Index and RILM. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window Provides full text, abstracts, and bibliographic citations for noted scholarly resources as well as specialized magazines in the humanities. Topics include art, classical studies, dance, film, journalism, philosophy, religion, and much more. Scope: International. Dates: Varies.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text scholarly, multidisciplinary, database that currently includes thousands of academic journal articles, along with thousands of monographs and other materials relevant for education. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window Compiled by the Modern Language Association, provides nearly 2 million bibliographic records for books, book chapters, and journal articles published on modern literatures, languages, literary theory and criticism, folklore and linguistics, and more. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1926 to present.
Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new window Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text provides access to a wide variety of resources, including full-text film and television journals, international periodicals, monographs, yearbooks, conference papers and much more. Updated on a weekly basis, this database provides full text for hundreds of journals and books and cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts and selected coverage for hundreds of publications. Variety movie reviews from 1914 to present and a vast image collection from the MPTV Image Archive are also included.
Music Online This link opens in a new window Access to over 10 million audio recordings, approximately 1.3 million pages of scores, 124,000 pages of music reference and over 2,500 hours of video. Genres include Classical, Jazz, World, American, and Popular Music. Reference sources include African-American Music Reference Library, Classical Music Reference Library, Classical Music Reference Library, and The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Medieval to 21st century.
Art Full Text This link opens in a new window Contains full text articles from more than 320 periodicals, high-quality indexing and abstracting of over 680 periodicals, including 360 peer-reviewed journals, as well as indexing and abstracting of over 14,000 art dissertations. Indexing of almost 220,000 art reproductions provides examples of styles and art movements, including works by emerging artists. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: 1977 to present.

Review the Newspapers page for databases such as AllAfrica, Black Newspapers, Ethnic Newswatch, and more.