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Working With Databases
Gender & Women's Studies is an interdisciplinary field with connections to many subject areas. Any subject database can offer valuable resources, so think about the subject discipline that your research topic intersects with (Humanities, Social Science, Health Sciences, etc.). Databases specific to women's topics and issues, as well as a sampling of databases useful for researching various aspects of Women's Studies are also listed below.
For a full list of library databases arranged by subject click on All Databases by Title at the bottom of this page. Once on the resulting page, use the All Subjects drop down menu at the top left of the page to select a subject area. Once you have navigated to a database of interest, use the Advanced Search mode, which offers more than one searching field. Just as with searching books and reference materials, you will likely combine terms, such as:
women and advertising, women and Islam, women and medieval music, women and cult films, women and Mexico, etc.
Gender & Women's Studies Databases
These databases are specific to women's topics and issues.
- Gender: Identity and Social Change (AM) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Primary sources documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations, and the struggle for women’s rights.
- What dates are covered? 19th century - Present
- GenderWatch (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Full text collection of journals, magazines, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets and pamphlets, conference proceedings, and governmental, NGO, and special reports devoted to women's and gender issues.
- What dates are covered? 1970's - Present
- Women’s Studies International (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Covers the core disciplines in Women’s Studies to the latest scholarship in feminist research. Sources include journals, newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, proceedings, reports, theses, dissertations, NGO studies, Web sites, and grey literature.
- What dates are covered? Ranges from 1972 and earlier to the present.
General and Subject-Specific Library Databases
These databases can be used to connect research to other subject areas.
- Academic Search Complete (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What's included? Citations to and full text of over 8,500 journals and magazines, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. Covers a wide range of academic subjects including the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, technology, and more.
- What dates are covered? Coverage varies, but generally covers the mid 1990s - present. Updated daily.
- America: History and Life with Full Text (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Citations to and the full text of hundreds of full-text history journals about the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes features such as the ability to search by time period.
- What dates are covered? 1955 to the present
- APA PsycInfo (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Citations and abstracts of journal articles and books in psychology, including applied psychology, developmental psychology, and personality. Updated twice weekly.
- What dates are covered? 1597 - Present.
- Film and Television Literature Index (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Comprehensive bibliographic database covering the entire spectrum of television and film writing. It has been designed for use by a diverse audience that includes film scholars, college students, and general viewers. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Updated twice a month.
- What dates are covered? Mostly 1970s - present, with some older coverage
- Independent Voices (Reveal Digital) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Digital collection of the alternative press including newspapers, magazines and journals drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals and the New Left, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBTs, anarchists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines. When completed, the Collection will represent complete runs of over 1,000 titles and 1,000,000 pages.
- What else should I know? The content will become open access in January 2019 or sooner.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Archival journal collections in many disciplines, scholarly e-books, images, and primary source materials from institutions worldwide.
- What else should I know? Many journals in JSTOR have an embargo (called the "Moving Wall") on their most recent articles, generally ranging from 3-5 years. Other databases will provide more current results.
- MLA International Bibliography with Full Text (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Guide to scholarship on language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film. International in scope, the MLA Bibliography covers scholarly publications including journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations. Full text for more than 1,000 journals.
- What dates are covered? Early 20th century - Present.
- Nexis Uni (LexisNexis) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? News, law, and business information service. Includes news from national and international newspapers; wire services and articles from hundreds of periodicals; and a number of other reference sources. All sources are full-text. Updated daily.
- PAIS Index (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Citations to journal articles, books, government publications, research & conference reports, publications of international agencies, and other materials from over 120 countries. Covers topics related to public affairs, public and social policies, and international relations. Updated monthly.
- What dates are covered? 1914 - Present.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Full-text current and archival articles from 500+ scholarly journals from major university presses covering literature and criticism, history, performing arts, cultural studies, education, philosophy, political science, gender studies, and more. Updated continually.
- Providence Journal (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? Articles from the Providence Journal. Searchable page images available for 1829-1982 and 2017 to present. Full text available from 1981 to present.
- What dates are covered? 1829 - Present.
- ScienceDirect (Elsevier) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? A collection of journals from the publisher Elsevier and its affiliates. Journals may be browsed or searched by keyword. Access to the full content of articles from selected journals is available to URI users. Availability is indicated by a green icon. Other articles may be requested via Interlibrary Loan.
- What dates are covered? 1995 - Present.
- Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
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- What’s included? The international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Citations and abstracts for journals, books, dissertations, and conference papers in areas such as social structure, inequality, social change, and social problems. Updated monthly.
- What dates are covered? 1952 - Present.
New to Database Searching?
Databases are electronic indexes leading you to citations, abstracts, and very often the full text of articles. Learn more about finding journal articles with this handy user guide.
Search Connectors (Boolean operators)
Search connectors such as "AND", "OR", and "NOT" help you
narrow down your search and identify the most relevant articles. Use "AND" to retrieve articles on more than one keyword. Use "OR" to retrieve
articles on either one of your desired terms or both. Use "NOT" to exclude the
information that you do not need. Limiting by publication year, type of article, document type, or physical description can also help you find relevant articles.
Manage your Citations
- RefWorks This link opens in a new window
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- What does RefWorks do? RefWorks is a web-based citation manager. Import citations from databases to create your own personal collection. Automatically format your papers and bibliographies in any of almost 150 formats (e.g. APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, CBE, etc.).
- RefWorks Tutorials (YouTube)
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