Databases are tools designed to help you search the scholarly (and other) articles and resources available to you through the Holy Cross Libraries. Article databases are like very long bibliographies of articles that might interest you -- some that are available physically at Holy Cross, some available online, and some that we have to borrow from other libraries.
Types of Databases
There are two main kinds of research databases that you might encounter:
- General databases, like Academic Search Premier and JSTOR, which have a little bit of everything;
- Databases for specific subjects or types of sources (ex - newspapers, historical sources, videos, etc.)
In addition, you will probably use CrossSearch, the search box on the homepage of the Libraries' website. CrossSearch is a discovery tool which searches many (though not all) databases at once. CrossSearch is like a library version of Google -- it is a great place to get your search started and find many sources at once. If you feel like Cross Search is overwhelming, try one of the suggested databases for theater and see what results you get.
Date(s): 1700s-early 1900s
English-language primary sources about relationships between China, the Pacific region and the United States.
Date(s): 1750-1929
English-language primary sources about Chinese history, religion, culture, and everyday life.
Date(s): 1793-1980
English-language primary sources about the relationship between China and the West.
Primary sources in English relating to empire building around the world and especially the British Empire.
Date(s): 1600s-1800s
English-language primary sources about the relationship between Britain and the British Empire in India, including the East India Company.
Date(s): 1789-1914
British and American books, pamphlets and broadsides from the "long" 19th century.
Date(s):1818-1970s
Primary sources produced by American women traveling throughout the United States and around the world during the 19th and 20th centuries.
When you're using databases, you want to use keywords to search for materials related to your topic. To develop keywords for a search, think about the topics you want to explore - you might try searching a book title and some of the major themes within the work, or an author and reviews or commentary to see what other people think of their work. Lets say your project is about the book Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Leguin. Here is a list of keywords I might use to find journal articles on that topic:
Left hand of darkness, science fiction, ecology, feminism, environmental science, critique, commentary, Hainish Cycle, violence, anti-violence.
You can search for these terms individually or try combining them for more refined results. Try using search terms like AND, OR or NOT.
If I use the terms "Ursula K. Leguin" and "Left hand of darkness" and "criticism" I will get results that contain all of those search terms together.
"review" OR "criticism" and "Left Hand of Darkness" will bring up results that include the book title as well as either review or criticism or both words together.
Use NOT when you want to exclude a word or phrase.
Here are some general tips to guide you in choosing your search terms:
Bonus Tip:
When you find a good article, look at its References or Works Cited list. That will often lead you to other useful sources. You can also look at information such as the name of the journal or the author for ideas of other ways to search.