LibGuides: WRTG 099 TUP: About Databases

Introduction to Databases

A Library Database is an online collection of information that a library subscribes to for its community.

Often (not always), these databases will include full sources, like research articles, news sources, and ebooks:

The library spends money on a variety of databases and other collections to meet community information needs and support them in the research and questions that they have.

Often, people will find these resources through going to Discover UR, which searches almost all of our available collections.

Sometimes, people will search a specific database to find what they need, rather than search through Discover UR.

Different databases will look different, but they tend to have the same features and options to search and use your sources.

See the image below, which shows you where four useful features (cite, download, abstract, find full text) are on two different databases:

Goals for today:

Welcome back to the library!

Today we are going to:

Introduction to research databases (数据库)
Practice searching
Considering quality & different uses of sources

Databases

Here as just a few of the databases that have resources on topics and research questions related to issues of identity. Feel free to search the A-Z list for more or see what is being written about an identity topic of interest in other databases too!

A-Z Database List
Find the best library databases for your research.

Social Sciences Full Text
Identifies articles in sociology, anthropology, geography, economics, politics and law, many with links to full text.
Abstracts included from 1994-current; full text for many articles from 1994-current.
SocINDEX
Identifies articles, books and other resources in sociology, anthropology, education, and other social sciences.
Includes some links to full text.
Ethnic NewsWatch
Full text articles from the ethnic and minority press in the U.S.
GenderWatch
Full text articles on women and women's issues from a variety of publications
including journals, regional publications, newspapers, newsletters, booklets and reports.
Historical Abstracts
Identifies articles and books on history since 1450, excluding the U.S. and Canada. Some links to full text.
Black Drama
Black Drama, now in its third edition, contains the full text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspo ra countries. Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. More than 40 percent of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays by writers such as Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Amiri Baraka, Randolph Edmonds, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.