Library Home - Catalog - Journal Locator - Databases - Internet Resources - Media - Reference/Instruction - User Services - General Info -
Off-Campus Support - Forms - Faculty Info - Other Libraries - Site Index

Resources for Research Writing

WebCat - the database used to locate books and all other materials owned by the University Libraries.  Don't forget that "ink on paper" resources are generally authoritative and are still the easiest to use for many questions.  Remember too, that "Power Search" allows you to limit to by item type (journals and magazines for example), by language, publication date(s) etc.

Research Databases - these proprietary databases are leased by the Shenandoah University Libraries at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars annually.  They include materials which are accurate and authoritative and have search interfaces designed by experts to make your search for information easier.  Using these databases will generally provide more accurate information, more quickly and easily, than using "free" Internet sources.

Selected Websites - Caution:  The sites listed below are available "free" of charge on the Internet.  They have been selected by experts for their accuracy and reliability.  However, one should always use a critical eye in evaluating information found for free on the WWW. 

Library Home - Catalog - Journal Locator - Databases - Internet Resources - Media - Reference/Instruction - User Services - General Info -
Off-Campus Support - Forms - Faculty Info - Other Libraries - Site Index

        Research Databases        

Databases with an English/Literature Focus

MLA International Bibliography - is produced by the Modern Language Association of America.  It  indexes journals, books and other materials written about literature, language, linguistics and folklore. Coverage begins in 1963 and the database now includes over 1,400,000 records.  (SU students off the campus network should use their GroupWise username and password at the login screen.)

Literature Resource Center - combines the MLA database with fulltext from Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Twayne's Author Series and Scribner's Writers Series

Arts and Humanities Search   indexes over 1,300 periodicals in the arts and humanities (not just literature).  It is updated weekly and now contains over 2,500,000 records.  Some periodicals have been indexed since 1980.  This database can be accessed both on-campus and off-campus through remote proxy access.  (remote access requires Outlook username and password)

Fulltext Databases

Project Muse - this full-text resource provides access to 45 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences and mathematics. (remote access requires Outlook username and password)

Academic OneFile - provides indexing to more than 11,000 scholarly journals in the humanities, sciences and social sciences. The fulltext of articles is available for approximately 3,500 of the titles indexed. Some of the journals indexed may be available in the University Libraries. (remote access requires username and password)

JSTOR - an archive of scholarly journals providing the fulltext (PDF files) of hundreds of  journals from all disciplines.  Coverage extends back decades for many titles, but most have a "moving wall" which blocks access to the most recent articles.

Samples of literature related periodicals available to SU through Project Muse include:

American Imago                            Callaloo                                          Configurations

Diacritics                                      Essays in Medieval Studies              Emily Dickinson Journal

Henry James Review                     Lion and the Unicorn                         Milton Quarterly

Modern Language Notes MLN       Modernism/Modernity                          New Literary History

Philosophy and Literature              SEL Studies in English Literature   

Cambridge University Press - this full-text resource provides access to 120 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences (remote access requires username and password)

Oxford University Press Journals Online - this full-text resource provides access to 120 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and mathematics. (remote access requires username and password)

Wilson OmniFile Full-Text, Mega Edition - provides access to indexing and abstracting for approximately 3,500 journals and magazines from the humanities, social sciences, and science and engineering, with fulltext available for about 1,750 titles.  Coverage for some titles begins as early as 1982.  (remote access requires username and password)

Harp Week - provides fulltext access to issues of Harper's Weekly: Journal of Civilization published between January 3, 1857 and December 29, 1877.  You can both browse and search;  Harp Week provides subject, illustration, advertisement, and published literature indexes, or you can search the fulltext of all available issues.  One can also browse by date.  (remote access requires username and password)
 

Miscellaneous Databases and Research Related Digitized Tools

Dissertation Abstracts - Indexed doctoral dissertations and theses from universities in the U.S. and abroad.  Over 1,560,000 items from all fields of study, dating back to 1861.  Abstracts provided for records since 1980 - thesis abstracts since 1988.  This database can be accessed both on-campus and off-campus through remote proxy access.  (remote access requires username and password)

Journal Locator - is an alphabetical list of journals and magazines to which the University Libraries provide access.  This title list will, in most cases, tell you the dates available for a particular electronic title, and you can connect to the appropriate database.  You can then search the database for the title you need. 
If we subscribe to a title in print format, SU Journal Collection will be stated and you can connect to the catalog record which will show our subscription holdings.  The catalog record will tell you whether a title is available in paper or on microfilm.
Approximately 27,000 titles are now listed.

Search Journal Locator  -  Find Both Print and Electronic Journals Available Through University Libraries

RefWorks - a bibliographic citation manager which allows users toImport citations from online databases to create your own personal bibliographic database. Off-campus Requires separate password - see Dr. Jacobs for access information

InterLibrary Loan Forms - just click here to bring up the forms for books and journals.  Remember, you must make sure that we do not have access to what you need in our local collection, BEFORE you make a request. 

WorldCat - contains records of over 95 million items in over 400 languages from over 60,000 participating libraries from around the world.  As you might expect, most records are of books, but you will find records of any conceivable item a library might own including audio and video recordings, computer programs, archival materials, maps, musical scores and more.  Some items in this database date to before 1,000 B.C. Approximately one million items are being added annually, and WorldCat is updated daily.  (remote access requires Outlook username and password)
 

    Remember to read on-screen instructions; some systems are actually quite friendly.

     Use online help features for more detailed explanations of how to search each particular
     database.
 

     Always feel free to ask a librarian for help!!

Return to Top
 

                         Web Sites            

Caution:  The sites listed below are available free of charge on the Internet.  They have been selected by experts for their accuracy and reliability, however one should always use a critical eye in evaluating information found free on the WWW.

The following three free websites are recommended by Dr. Jacobs

Hypertexts:  We Do American Studies - courtesy of the University of Virginia
American Memory - courtesy of the Library of Congress
Voice of the Shuttle - website for humanites research courtesy of U.C. Santa Barbara English Department
FirstSearch Databases - are proprietary and can be accessed by clicking on WorldCat - see above

Duke University Libraries Guide to Library Research - a group effort by several librarians at Duke University Libraries

Seven Steps of the Research Process - courtesy of Cornell University Libraries

Internet Sources  -  try the digital reference area, the best search engines and Internet directories, or browse selected websites organized by SU major. 

Learn How to Evaluate Web Resources

Publishers Wanted, No Experience Necessary:   Information Quality on the Web is provided courtesy of Genie Tyburski, a Research Librarian for Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Law Library Resource Exchange.

Evaluating Web Resources was created by Jan Alexander and Marsha Ann Tate at Widener University's Wolfgram Memorial Library.  It provides criteria for evaluating a variety of WWW pages including advocacy web pages, business/marketing pages, news pages, informational pages and personal pages.

Library Instruction Round Table - Website Evaluation Criteria comes to us courtesy of the American Library Association and Billie Peterson-Lugo at Baylor University.

Return to Top