ENGL 2A Exploratory Essay Library Workshop
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Undergraduate Learning Librarian
Kelci Baughman McDowell
she/her/hers
Contact:
Santa Clara University
University Library
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
kbaughmanmcdowell@scu.edu
University Library
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
kbaughmanmcdowell@scu.edu
408-554-5438
What is a scholarly article?
Ice Breaker - What's Your Topic?
Grab a Post-it and answer two questions:
- Which documentary did you pick?
- What topic/theme about the documentary are you thinking about researching for your exploratory essay?
Slap it on the whiteboard!
Workshop Goals Today
Welcome! In the workshop today, you will have the opportunity to:
- Explore library databases that provide you with peer-reviewed (academic/scholarly) articles
- Practice summarizing and citing scholarly articles
It's Critical: Access Peer Reviewed Information Through the Library
Library-provided databases are part of that 90% of information found only in the deep web.
The SCU Library subscribes to hundreds of these databases that are hidden in the deep web.
You have three options to access these databases:
-
Use the library's website to access the list of databases and select one to enter and search within (see image below indicating where to navigate)
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Click the direct link to the databases page to access the list and pick one
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Use the curated list of databases on this research guide's articles tab to pick a database, enter it, and search
Example 1
Ferrarello, Susi. "Am I Obsessed Or In Love?" Psychology Today, 29 April 2023, https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/lying-on-the-philosophers-couch/202304/am-i-obsessed-or-in-love.
Popular or scholarly? Why?
Example 2
Heller, Hadas, et al. “Outcomes and Complications of 33 Soft-Milled Cobalt-Chromium-Ceramic Full-Arch Screw-Retained Implant-Supported Prostheses: A Retrospective Study with up to 10-Year Follow-Up.” Journal of Functional Biomaterials, vol. 14, no. 3, Mar. 2023, p. 157-167. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.libproxy.scu.edu/10.3390/jfb14030157.
Popular or scholarly? Why?
The Internet's Own Boy
Clips from The Internet's Own Boy:
The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)
Activity: Articles for Exploratory Essay
Step 1 - Jot down keywords for your topic. This helps keep you focused
Step 2 - Pick a database
A few options:
1) Find one on the Databases tab of the Library’s website
Navigate to the Databases tab
Browse By Title or Browse by Subject
2) Select a database from the list of databases below
Step 3 - Start searching
Now...
Select Advanced Search
Use your keywords and other narrowing strategies
Step 3 - Record your articles
Fill out this Google Form. You will receive a copy of the form in your email.
Example Search Strategy
Databases
The following databases are good places to start looking for research papers. To get tips on searching databases and finding articles, go to the Searching Tips tab.
Multidisciplinary Databases
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowA multidisciplinary database providing access to more than 8,500 full-text periodicals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals. It also offers indexing and abstracts for more than 12,500 journals. Covers a wide range of academic topics including business, education, social sciences, humanities, science, & engineering. Coverage varies, with some publications going back to 1911.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowProvides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, biology, and other fields of the humanities, social sciences, and life sciences. Consult the online tables of contents for holdings, as coverage varies for each title. Updated monthly.
- OmniFile Full Text Mega (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowThis multi-disciplinary database provides the complete content - indexing, abstracts, and full text - from six of Wilson's full-text databases: Education Full Text, General Science Full Text, Humanities Full Text, Readers' Guide Full Text, Social Sciences Full Text, and Business Full Text. Full-text articles from five additional periodical databases are also included when available: Applied Science & Technology Full Text, Art Full Text, Biological & Agricultural Index, Index to Legal Periodicals & Books, and Library Literature & Information Science Full Text. Indexing begins in 1982, abstracts in 1984, and full-text coverage in 1994. Updated daily.
Arts & Humanities Databases
- Communication Source This link opens in a new windowThe most comprehensive resource for scholars studying mass media, communication theory, linguistics, organizational communication, rhetoric & discourse, phonetics, and speech pathology. It includes the full text of more than 600 publications (academic journals, conference papers, magazines, and periodicals). Coverage goes back to 1915.
- Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database provides access to articles and other materials related to film and television research. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. The database includes indexing and abstracts for more than 300 publications, as well as full text for more than 90 journals.
- Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts English-language articles in the most important journals in the humanities, from 1984-present. The full text of many of these articles is available online from 1995 forward. Updated daily. For indexing of articles appearing prior to 1984, use Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective.
Social Sciences & Business Databases
- Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new windowAnthropology Plus is the combination of two databases: Anthropological Literature from Harvard University and Anthropological Index from the Royal Anthropological Institute (UK). It is an index to journal articles, reports, and edited works in the fields of anthropology, archaeology, and folklore. Coverage is from the late 19th century to the present.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window1,700 full-text, peer-reviewed journals. 1,600 business trade and general business publications. Additional full-text non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses, faculty seminars (video) and more
- ProQuest Social Science Premium Collection This link opens in a new windowContains more than 1,800 full-text articles and over 14,000 abstracts from scholarly journals and dissertations in the social sciences such as criminal justice, education, language behavior, linguistics, political science, sociology, etc.
- Social Sciences Full Text This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts articles at least one column in length from over 544 different English language periodicals in the social sciences, which includes anthropology, psychology, sociology, ethnic studies, political science, economics, geography, urban studies, and more. Fulltext of articles are available from about 175 of these periodicals. Indexing goes back to 1983. Abstracts began with January 1994. Fulltext availability varies title to title, but may go back to 1995. Updated daily. For indexing of articles appearing prior to 1983, use Humanities & Social Sciences Retrospective.
Ethnic Studies & Gender Studies
- Black Studies Center This link opens in a new windowFully cross-searchable gateway to Black studies including scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more. It combines several resources such as Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), Black Literature Index, and historical black newspapers such as the Chicago Defender (1910-1975) and the Daily Defender (1956-1975).
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowEthnic NewsWatch™ is really two databases, a current one, beginning in 1990 and including newspapers, magazines, and journals of the American ethnic and minority press, including scholarly ethnic studies journals.This is updated daily with new content. The other database is a historical file covering the years 1959-1989, incuding a rare collection of over 30 full-text titles, focusing on African American, Hispanic American, and Native American presses from 1959-1989.
- GenderWatch This link opens in a new windowGenderWatch enhances gender and women's studies, and gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) research by providing authoritative perspectives from 1970 to present. GenderWatch provides access to over 300 titles, with more than 250 in full-text, from an array of academic, radical, community and independent presses.
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new windowThe ultimate women's studies resource! Includes over 540,000 records drawn from a variety of essential women's studies databases. 1972-present.
Psychology Databases
- APA PsycArticles This link opens in a new windowProvides access to more than 100 important journals in all subject areas relevant to psychology. Journals published by the American Psychological Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and English language journals from Hogrefe Publishing are included. Most titles are covered from volume one to the present. Citations in PsycINFO have links to the full-text in PsycARTICLES.
Browsing By Subject
To browse all SCU databases by subject, visit the Databases By Subject page.