Welcome to your Guide to Library Research

As a Vanderbilt student you can connect with the library wherever you are!

Access books, journals, databases, films, and more using your VUnetID
Work with a librarian - don't spend more than 20 minutes aimlessly searching!
- Email me with a question
- Schedule a meeting virtually or in-person for in-depth research assistance

Central Library spends ~2 million dollars every year to purchase books, ebooks, articles, and other materials that are behind paywalls.
Vanderbilt Library subscribes to over 700 databases.
These resources make up a majority of the Deep Web.
Google, Bing, and other familiar tools capture less than 1% of information on the internet.

Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new window
Literary guide to significant sources on a variety of subjects. Works as an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia.
Oxford Research Encyclopedias This link opens in a new window
Long-form overview articles written, peer-reviewed, and edited by leading scholars. Both foundational and cutting-edge topics are covered in order to develop, over time, an anchoring knowledge base for major areas of research.
Access to selected content only. Some articles may not be available.
Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
Cambridge Histories covering American, British, economic, regional, and general history, language and linguistics, philosophy, religious studies, theatre studies and performing arts, etc.
Very Short Introductions This link opens in a new window
Concise overviews of hundreds of diverse topics from the abstract (Knowledge) to the concrete (Coral Reefs), written by experts in the field who combine facts, analysis, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make challenging topics highly readable.
Video demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOf171Mk_JU

Gale Literature: Book Review Index This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive guide to book reviews: cites or links to full-text reviews.

Coverage: 1965 to present
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Index of academic historical journals on the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, etc.
Coverage: 1955 to present
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Large and important archive for academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Many journals do not have current issues.
ProQuest This link opens in a new window
Search all ProQuest databases simultaneously. Includes arts, humanities, social sciences, news, and science and technology.
Readers' Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982 This link opens in a new window
Index of articles from magazines, including full coverage of the original print volumes of Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature™. Atlantic Monthly, Century Magazine, Christian Century, Commonweal, Foreign Affairs, Fortnightly Review (London), Good Housekeeping, Harper's, Ladies Home Journal, Literary Digest, The Nation, New Republic, Reader's Digest, Saturday Evening Post, Saturday Review, Scribner's, and Women's Home Companion.
Coverage: 1890-1982.

As generative AI tools become more prevalent, you may want to try using some of these tools and services to help you complete your coursework. According to the Syllabus AI Policies for the College of Arts & Science, "...the policy of Vanderbilt University to leave it up to individual faculty to decide whether and how AI tools are used in their courses..." Therefore you should always check the course syllabus and speak with the professor before using any AI Tool. If allowed by the professor, whether or not you choose to use AI is ultimately your decision, however there are a few things to keep in mind:

Why should I use AI tools?	Why shouldn't I use AI tools?
AI tools can complete some of your repetitive tasks more easily - AI is good at completing tedious, repetitive tasks that would normally take time away from your ability to think critically about your research question and ideas. Using AI can give you the ability to invest your time more heavily in creating a quality, well-thought out analysis or argument. AI can be good for brainstorming ideas & helping you kick off your project/assignment - it isn't always easy to come up with a research question or topic for a paper. AI tools can help you brainstorm a topic for you to explore.	The professor is not allowing their use - if you use AI tools when the professor explicitly states it is not allowed, you could be risking your grade if discovered. AI tools aren't always correct - AI can generate answers that sound authoritative and look reasonable to the untrained eye, but are revealed to be incorrect or poor quality to subject experts. If you don't already have experience with the topic you are studying and you can't catch mistakes, you may be risking your grade. AI can't access all of the scholarly information that is available to you - as mentioned in the "Why not Google?" tab, Vanderbilt Libraries spend a large sum to ensure we have access to scholarly materials that are behind publisher paywalls. Your research could stall if you aren't accessing all of the materials that are available to you.

Why should I use AI tools?

Why shouldn't I use AI tools?

AI tools can complete some of your repetitive tasks more easily - AI is good at completing tedious, repetitive tasks that would normally take time away from your ability to think critically about your research question and ideas. Using AI can give you the ability to invest your time more heavily in creating a quality, well-thought out analysis or argument.
AI can be good for brainstorming ideas & helping you kick off your project/assignment - it isn't always easy to come up with a research question or topic for a paper. AI tools can help you brainstorm a topic for you to explore.

The professor is not allowing their use - if you use AI tools when the professor explicitly states it is not allowed, you could be risking your grade if discovered.
AI tools aren't always correct - AI can generate answers that sound authoritative and look reasonable to the untrained eye, but are revealed to be incorrect or poor quality to subject experts. If you don't already have experience with the topic you are studying and you can't catch mistakes, you may be risking your grade.
AI can't access all of the scholarly information that is available to you - as mentioned in the "Why not Google?" tab, Vanderbilt Libraries spend a large sum to ensure we have access to scholarly materials that are behind publisher paywalls. Your research could stall if you aren't accessing all of the materials that are available to you.