LibGuides: FWS 121 Culture and Representation: The Arabian Nights: Home

Finding Scholarly Articles

The University of Rochester's libraries provide access to a robust collection of databases containing millions of scholarly journal titles. Be sure to use the filters in these databases to limit your search specifically to journal articles or peer-reviewed sources. Scholarly sources tend to have ample citations to other books and articles and are written by experts in the field. If you're not sure if something counts as a "scholarly" source, check with your librarian for this class – she is happy to help.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a great starting place for most topics. Particularly strong in the humanities and social sciences, JSTOR provides access to a wide range of journals from history, area studies, anthropology, literature, film and media studies, and more. Watch this short tutorial for tips on getting the most out of your JSTOR search.
Video: Search Tips When Using JSTOR
This tutorial includes a series of three videos. While I recommend watching the full tutorial (total runtime: 5 minutes, 31 seconds), you can also select a specific segment from this list:
Setting your search options in JSTOR (runtime: 1 minute, 53 seconds)
Managing your results list in JSTOR (runtime: 2 minutes, 40 seconds)
Using JSTOR's topic terms (runtime: 58 seconds)
Subject areas include African-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, business, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology, statistics. The University of Rochester Libraries currently subscribes to the following multidisciplinary JSTOR Collections: Arts and Sciences I through XV. JSTOR also packages their content in disciplinary collections; however, the only ones of these that we have licensed are the Biological Sciences segment and the first of the Business collections. For alumni access, see also Alumni Library Gateway.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
This database from the Modern Languages Association (MLA) focuses on literature, language and linguistics, folklore, film, literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts, and more. If you don't see the full-text for an article, click the red "FindText@UR" button to see if UR provides full-text access through another database (we often do!).
Index Islamicus This link opens in a new window
This database indexes all aspects of Islam and the Muslim world, including history, beliefs, societies, cultures, languages and literatures. This is an abstract database, so if you don't see the full-text for an article, click the red "FindText@UR" button to see if UR provides full-text access through another database (we often do!).
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Project Muse is a great resource for finding articles on your topic. Like JSTOR, it provides access to scholarly journal articles from a range of humanities and social science disciplines.
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window
This database is a great multidisciplinary database with full-text articles from humanities-based disciplines such as art, film, music, literature, and religion. It also includes research from history, which some consider a humanistic social science.

Finding Books and E-Books

One of the best places to find books on your topic is through the library's website. To get started, visit the library's homepage and choose "Library Catalog" from the dropdown box...or try out the search box below.

Books may be available as print books or e-books. For e-books, click on the book's title or "Available Online" to access the full-text through one of the library's databases. For print books, click on the book's title or for details and additional options (Show Me).

Assuming the book is available, you can then find the book in the stacks (based on the call number) and check it out at the Q&i Desk using your University of Rochester ID card. If you're not in a rush, you can also request that the item be brought to the Rush Rhees Q&i Desk for you to pick up. If the item is not available (e.g. "Out of library"), you can use the "Request" feature in our catalog to ask that the book be returned and held for you once it is available (Show Me).

Looking for an e-book on your topic? Try directly searching one of our e-book databases:

ACLS Humanities E-Book This link opens in a new window
Also known as the ACLS History Ebook Project, this humanities-focused e-book collection includes nearly 5,400 scholarly titles.

JSTOR Books
In addition to the ebooks U of R purchases through JSTOR, this database provides access to more than 6,000 open access ebooks from leading publishers including some content exclusive to JSTOR.

Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
Ebook Central is U of R's primary e-book platform with thousands of titles from all disciplines. Many of these titles can be found through the library's main search page, but searching Ebook Central directly is a great way to make sure you don't miss e-book titles relevant to your topic.
EBSCOHost eBook Collections This link opens in a new window
Like Ebook Central, EBSCO provides access to a collection of e-books on a wide range of topics. This collection of e-books isn't quite as extensive as Ebook Central, but you still may find some useful books on your topic in this database
Not all titles are downloadable. It depends on the agreement with the publisher, however many titles can be downloaded. If downloading is permitted, you will see a button in the results list that says "download offline," and on the record for the book itself, a utton that says "Download this ebook" Make sure that you have an up to date version of Adobe Digital Editions. Click here for more help.

Finding Images and Videos

Several of the library's databases include audiovisual materials including high-resolution images and full-length documentaries and films. Searching for non-text based sources can be challenging, so think creatively about your search – what words do you think would be used to describe your ideal image...or what words might be in the title for a relevant film? Think about your search terms carefully and reach out if you have any questions!

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Artstor contains over one million images from museums, libraries, and other collections around the world. These images include photographs, scanned documents, maps, three-dimensional artifacts, and more. Try searching by material type, geography, date, etc. using the "Advanced Search" feature.
including: viewing and analyzing images through features such as zooming and panning, saving groups of images online for personal or shared uses, and creating and delivering presentations both online and offline.
Kanopy (1920 - current) This link opens in a new window
This streaming video databases has over 20,000 movie titles from a large group of film producers including the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber Edu, Documentary Educational Resources Collection, BBC Active Collection, and many others
“Please note: If you do not have the most current Zotero Chrome addon you may encounter problems with other services such as Kanopy that require a proxy connector. This conflict, if experienced, is resolved by uninstalling the Zotero Chrome addon and installing the most current version.”
Films on Demand: Master Academic Package This link opens in a new window
This database of films from over 800 international producers includes a wide array of content including documentaries, literary adaptations, and recorded stage performances.