Save Time! Let the Databases Do the Work!
- Citation BuildersYou don't need to create your citations from scratch! Use this guide from Western Illinois University Libraries to find out more.
Most library databases contain a link for each article labeled "cite" or "cite this." You can click on these links to get a pre-generated citation from the database.
REMEMBER! Citations from databases are machine-generated, and they can and do contain mistakes. Make sure you review your citations closely to make sure they contain no errors.
Finding Sources
The following databases will be of use for various topics related to your research:
- America: History and Life This link opens in a new windowIndex of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada. Journal articles, book titles, book reviews, and dissertations.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowIndex of international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Abstracts of journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and citations to book reviews.
- Gender Studies Database This link opens in a new windowCombines Women's Studies International and Men's Studies databases with the coverage of sexual diversity issues. Professional journals, conference papers, books, book chapters, government reports, discussion and working papers, theses & dissertations, websites, etc.
- Nexis Uni (formerly LexisNexis Academic) This link opens in a new windowNews and newspaper stories, federal and state court cases, US law reviews and journals, company profiles and directories. Company Dossier; data on public figures.
- ProQuest This link opens in a new windowSearch all ProQuest databases simultaneously. Includes arts, humanities, social sciences, news, and science and technology.
Keyword vs. Subject Searching
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Step 1: Start your search process by brainstorming a list of keywords that describe the main concepts of your topic or question. |
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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. |
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!
We will divide into groups, and each group will pick a different war ( World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Iraq War) to use in the following exercise below:
- Analyzing Historical Newspaper ArticlesThis exercise will help you examine how newspaper viewpoints contribute to the narratives of history.
FindIt@VU
