Boolean Operators for Searching
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Recommended Databases for Latin American, Latinx, & Caribbean Studies
- HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Index This link opens in a new window
Citations for journal articles, book reviews, and literary works about Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Hispanics/Latinx in the United States.
For a complete list of databases useful for Latin American, Latinx, & Carribean Studies research, click here.
- Arte Público Historical Collection Series 1 This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1746-2006
Newspaper and magazine articles, and other primary sources, related to Hispanic history, literature and culture in the United States. Mostly in Spanish. - Arte Público Historical Collection Series 2 This link opens in a new window
Date(s): 1799-2006, but mainly 1895-1950
Magazine articles, books and other primary sources related to Hispanic civil rights, religion, and women writers in the United States. Mostly in Spanish. - America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, book chapters and magazines about the history of the United States and Canada, 1450-present.
- Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, book chapters and magazines about the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450-present.
- JSTOR Arts & Sciences This link opens in a new window
Journal articles in almost every subject area, including some historical articles back to the 17th century.
- Academic Video Online Premium (AVON) This link opens in a new window
TV clips, documentaries, and films spanning many different subject areas.
- Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
Streaming music from a variety of genres and periods. **Limited to 10 users at a time. Please click "Sign Out" and close the website when you are done.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Journal articles, books and dissertations focusing on literature and literary criticism, language, and publishing.
Searching on Research Databases
Keyword Searching
It is important to use the right words in your searches to make sure you're searching effectively.
- Try searching! See what terms work and what terms don't work. Always remember to use synonyms when searching to make sure you get the most results! For example, if you are researching a topic like theatrical portrayals of Latin Americans, you might want to search for not only "theatre," but also related words like "play" and "musical."
- Once you have perfected your key words, make sure to use Boolean operators for the best searches!
Using Boolean Operators
- AND combines terms so that your search contains both search terms. For example, the search musical AND "Latin America" will include results with both musical and "Latin America."
- OR broadens your search to include either of your search terms. For example, the search musical OR play will include results with either musical or play.
- NOT excludes terms from your search. For example, the search musical NOT play will include results with the term musical and exclude the term play.
Boolean Operator Hints
In addition to the Boolean operators AND, OR, & NOT, there are several other tricks you can use to further improve the quality of your searches on EconLit.
- Nesting through the use of parentheses allows you to use multiple operators and key words. For example, the search (play OR musical) AND "Latin America" will return results that include both play and Latin America AND musical and "Latin America."
- The wild card (*) allows you to search for multiple versions of the same word. For example, the search wom*n will return results including either woman or women, and the search child* will return results including child, children, childhood, childish, etc.
- Quotation marks allow you to search for search phrases that are more than one word. For example, the search In the Heights will return results including either in or the or heights, but the search "In the Heights" will only include results that have "In the Heights." (In other words, the use of quotation marks preserve the multi-word phrase in its intended order, but make sure not to use it for entire sentences!).