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American Studies

Finding Sources

Keyword vs. Subject Searching

Step 1:  Start your search process by brainstorming a list of keywords that describe the main concepts of your topic or question.

Step 2:  Use these keywords for your initial searches.

Step 3:  Use the Subject Heading links in the Library Catalog record to refine your search.

Vanderbilt affiliates have access to thousands of journals concerning history.  About 25% of these journals are available electronically:
 

Journal Titles A-Z Search

 

Use The Library Catalog to find journal titles available in print and/or microform formats. Select full-text journal articles do appears in the catalog. 

 

To find History journal articles by subject, see information on the Databases A-Z, Subject: History page. 

 

Databases A-Z: History

Find the best library databases for your research.
 

 

https://browzine.com/libraries/519

(PCs and Laptops)

thirdiron.com/download

(Mobile Devices)

BrowZine is an app for tablets and smartphones that delivers and lets you browse, read, and save articles from thousands of the library's journals in one newsstand. BrowZine is compatible with iOS and Android tablets and smartphones. BrowZine can now be used on your laptop or computer as BrowZine Web. 

With BrowZine, you can:

  • Browse journals by subject area and across disciplines
  • Create your own personal journal bookshelf
  • Download articles in full-text in a uniform format, without having to search multiple platforms for what you need
  • Save articles for offline reading, export to services Zotero and Mendeley
  • Get alerts when new articles appear in your favorite journals

Google Scholar

Google Scholar provides access to "peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations."

What Google Scholar does not contain, in most cases, is the fulltext of the articles -- but it does work with the library's Findit@VU service to help you get to the fulltext when available.  If you are on campus, Findit@VU will automatically appear -- but if you are off campus it won't.   Not clicking on Findit@VU may lead to you receiving a message indicating that you must purchase the article to view it. 

Bookmark this link as your access point to Google Scholar to ensure that the Findit@VU links appears in your searches or follow the instructions for setting your preferences in the video below.  Don't get caught paying for articles when you don't have to!

 

 

Vanderbilt is home to the Vanderbilt Television News Archivethe world's most extensive and complete archive of tv news, including tv news broadcasts of the national networks since August 5, 1968. It includes items from ABC, CBS, NBC,  CNN and Fox News, as well as news content from specials. You can search the TV News Archives via their website or the Library Catalog.

 

 

The Internet Archive's TV News Archive has captured video of television broadcasts, from June 2009 to current. It covers news and current event programs from over 20 US networks, including Spanish language networks.  Local news coverage from a number major market network affiliates is also available in this archive.

Users can search by date, network and show using keywords. Videos appear in one minute segments. Commercials are included and political ads is a search limiter.