Getting Started
Helpful Library Pages
For a comprehensive list of the databases available to you through the library see Databases A-Z
For resources by subject area see Falvey's Subject Guides page.
Search Smarter!
These resources are especially useful if you find yourself searching for things on sites not accessed through the library.
The Web vs. Library Databases – A comparison
A guide to understanding and evaluating the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly resources
Is it Scholarly? Tips for critically evaluating your information resources.
Avoid Problem Areas
Harvard Guide to Using Sources: What Constitutes Plagiarism? Under the section labeled as online tutorials there are tutorials you can take to help you better understand academic integrity and how to avoid plagiarism.
George Saunders's websites:
neverrockfila.com
http://www.georgesaundersbooks.com
Saunders, George. “My Writing Education: A Time Line.” The New Yorker, Oct. 2015. www.newyorker.com, https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/my-writing-education-a-timeline.
Databases for Scholarly/Peer Reviewed Articles
MLA International Bibliography (EBSCO)
Provides citations to journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations on all aspects of literature, language and linguistics, literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts, and folklore. International in scope; coverage from 1926 to the present. Includes access to the MLA Directory of Periodicals.
JSTOR
Provides a full text archive of academic journals and books in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. The most recent three to five years of a journal are usually not included.
Literature Criticism Online (Gale)
Provides compilations of literary criticism. Includes the complete runs of Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Drama Criticism, Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Poetry Criticism, Shakespearean Criticism, Short Story Criticism, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.
One Literature (ProQuest)
Features a digital library of English and American poetry, drama, and prose. Provides access to literary criticism indexed in ABELL and MLA International Bibliography and includes selective access to the full text of academic journals. Also includes full text access to a collection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and biographical dictionaries.
Literature Resource Center (Gale)
Provides full text access to critical essays, work and topic overviews, texts from literary magazines, biographies, and more. Covers a wide range of authors including novelists, poets, essayists, and journalists.
Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
Indexes academic journals, magazines, books, book reviews, and dissertations that cover world history from 1450 to the present, excluding North American history which is covered in the companion index America: History and Life. Includes abstracts for academic journal articles and selective full text content. Coverage extends back to 1953.
Provides citations to journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations on all aspects of literature, language and linguistics, literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts, and folklore. International in scope; coverage from 1926 to the present. Includes access to the MLA Directory of Periodicals.
JSTOR
Provides a full text archive of academic journals and books in the humanities, social sciences, and mathematics. The most recent three to five years of a journal are usually not included.
Literature Criticism Online (Gale)
Provides compilations of literary criticism. Includes the complete runs of Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Drama Criticism, Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Poetry Criticism, Shakespearean Criticism, Short Story Criticism, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.
One Literature (ProQuest)
Features a digital library of English and American poetry, drama, and prose. Provides access to literary criticism indexed in ABELL and MLA International Bibliography and includes selective access to the full text of academic journals. Also includes full text access to a collection of dictionaries, encyclopedias, and biographical dictionaries.
Literature Resource Center (Gale)
Provides full text access to critical essays, work and topic overviews, texts from literary magazines, biographies, and more. Covers a wide range of authors including novelists, poets, essayists, and journalists.
Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
Indexes academic journals, magazines, books, book reviews, and dissertations that cover world history from 1450 to the present, excluding North American history which is covered in the companion index America: History and Life. Includes abstracts for academic journal articles and selective full text content. Coverage extends back to 1953.
Dictionary, Encyclopedia, Etc.
Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics (Cambridge University Press)Written by experts and designed for the general reader, the Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics collection offers over 2000 comprehensive and accessible essays on major authors, periods and genres. For the author Companions, each writer is placed in literary and historical context; their major works are analyzed, either in separate chapters or grouped according to theme, and their influence on later writers assessed. The generic and topical Companions cover periods of English literature such as Old English or the Victorian Novel, and literary genres such as Modernism or Greek Tragedy, giving the reader vital contextual information about political, social, religious and artistic relationships. The Companions to Classical Civilisation examine key periods and aspects of the civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome.
Cambridge History of English and American LiteratureConsidered the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published, the Cambridge History contains over 303 chapters and 11,000 pages, with essay topics ranging from poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and political writing.
Cambridge History of Literary CriticismThe Cambridge History of Literary Criticism provides a comprehensive historical account of Western literary criticism from classical antiquity to the present day. The history will comprise nine volumes and deal with literary theory and critical practice. It is intended as an authoritative work of reference and exposition, much more than a mere chronicle of facts. While remaining broadly non-partisan, it addresses, where appropriate, controversial issues of current critical debate without evasion or pretence of neutrality. Nevertheless, it will maintain throughout a scrupulous concern for factual accuracy and a due representation of differing points of view.
Conflict in Northern Ireland: An Encyclopedia Dictionary of Irish Biography (Royal Irish Academy)Presents authoritative biographies of influential people of Irish heritage including Irish Americans. Only deceased subjects are covered. Includes portraits, if available, and lists works by and about featured individuals. Free online access courtesy of the Royal Irish Academy. Also available in print.
Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online (Gale)Provides full text access to biographical and critical essays on important literary figures from all eras, genres, and geographic areas. Many essays include manuscript pages, portraits, excerpts of criticism, bibliographies, and more. Electronic access extends back to 1978.
Encyclopaedia of IrelandEdited by Brian Lalor.
Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2003.
Dublin: Gill & Macmillan, 2003.
Encyclopaedia of Judaism OnlineOffers lengthy overviews of the practice of Judaism around the world, its history, and Jewish responses to contemporary society and moral issues. Online access via Brill.
Encyclopedia of American Immigration (Salem Press)Covers events, laws and treaties, organizations and institutions, and Supreme Court rulings on immigration. Edited by Carl Bankston, Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2010.
Encyclopedia of American Immigration (Sharpe Reference)Traces the scope and sweep of U.S. immigration from the earliest colonial settlements to the present, focusing on critical issues as well as the groups of people involved. Every major immigrant group and every era are fully documented and examined through detailed analysis of social, legal, political, economic, and demographic factors. Edited by James Ciment, Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2001.
Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War IIThe Encyclopedia consists of three general categories: "Roots of War," eight essays outlining the major types of conflicts, "Cold War Confrontations," a general category of articles, Organizations, Alliances, Conventions, and Negotiations and a third category of articles about Organizations, Alliances, Conventions, and Negotiations of the international community dealing with threats to security, resolve conflicts, maintain peace, and punish war criminals. Includes Biographical Thumbnails, Glossary and Master Bibliography
Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West Encyclopedia of IndiaThe Encyclopedia of India encompasses the history, cultures, geography and religions of India from ancient times to the present day. Across the four volumes of the Encyclopedia, readers are invited to explore India in a comprehensive reference work of more than 600 alphabetically arranged, illustrated articles.
Encyclopedia of Irish History and Culture (Macmillan Reference)Presents cross-disciplinary essays on Irish history from prehistoric times to the present, treating both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in detail.
Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim WorldContains thematic articles, biographies of key figures, definitions, illustrations, maps which explore Islam's role in the modern world, in the context of the religion's history and development. Source published in 2004. Online access via Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture Online (Brill) Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press)Presents authoritative biographies of influential people who lived in Britain. Covers only deceased subjects. Includes portraits, if available, and bibliographies with citations to works by and about featured individuals.
Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press)Contains the complete text of the second edition of the 20-volume Dictionary. Presents authoritative information on words in the English language, including their form, definition, history, pronunciation, and etymology. Approximately 1,000 new and revised entries are added on a quarterly basis.
Current & Historical Newspapers
When using newspaper databases:
Look carefully at their descriptions to help you identify coverage date ranges.
When searching in the databases it helps to specify date ranges, especially if you are searching a historical newspaper.
When searching historical newspapers be aware of the language you are using. The algorithms search for words in the newspaper so using modern terminology for something from the 1800s may not work.
Black Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
British Library Newspapers (Gale)
Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest)
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)
Irish Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
New York Times (NYTimes.com) Access Instructions
New York Times: 1851- (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1860-2009 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Radical Newspapers, 1886-1939 (Irish Newspaper Archive)
Times (London) Digital Archive, 1785-2019 (Gale)
Black Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)Offers access to the major African American newspapers of the 20th century: the Atlanta Daily World (1931-2003), the Baltimore Afro-American (1893-1988), the Cleveland Call & Post (1934-1991), the Chicago Defender (1910-1975), the Los Angeles Sentinel (1934-2005), the New York Amsterdam News (1922-1993), the Norfolk Journal & Guide (1921-2003), the Philadelphia Tribune (1912-2001), and the Pittsburgh Courier (1911-2002).
British Library Newspapers (Gale)Includes over 240 newspaper titles from the United Kingdom and Ireland, and spans the years of 1732 to 1950 over six distinct collections. Illuminating diverse and distinct regional attitudes, cultures, and vernaculars, providing an alternative viewpoint to the London-centric national press.
Ethnic NewsWatch (ProQuest)Offers access to the full text of articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. While most of the content is in English, some content in non-English languages is included. Coverage for most newspapers and magazines goes back to the early 1990s, but earlier content is also available.
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest)Offers full text access to the archives of a selection of newspapers available on the ProQuest platform: the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and the major African American newspapers of the 20th century, including the Chicago Defender. Coverage varies.
Irish Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Presents a complete archive of the Irish Times back to 1859 (except for the most recent two years) and the Weekly Irish Times (1876-1958).
New York Times (NYTimes.com) Access InstructionsOffers access to all sections of the NYTimes.com website without monthly limits. Coverage from 1851 to present, with limited availability of articles from 1923-1980. For full text access to all NYT content except the most recent five years, use ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
Subscription courtesy of the Provost's Office and Falvey Library.
Subscription courtesy of the Provost's Office and Falvey Library.
New York Times: 1851- (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Provides full text access to the complete New York Times archive except for the most recent five years. Use NYTimes.com, Nexis Uni, or ABI/INFORM for access to current content.
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1860-2009 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)Provides full text access to the complete Philadelphia Inquirer archive up to 2009: the Philadelphia Inquirer (1860-1934), the Philadelphia Inquirer Public Ledger (1934-1969), and the Philadelphia Inquirer (1969-2009). Use Philadelphia Inquirer (NewsBank) for access to current content.
Radical Newspapers, 1886-1939 (Irish Newspaper Archive)Presents digital archives of more than 100 newspapers, bulletins, and pamphlets covering a broad sweep of nationalist, republican, feminist, and socialist publications. Many of the newspapers and bulletins in the collection were short-lived and the archive may hold only a handful of issues.
Funded with support from the College of Arts & Sciences and the Irish Studies Program.
Funded with support from the College of Arts & Sciences and the Irish Studies Program.
Times (London) Digital Archive, 1785-2019 (Gale)Provides a fully searchable facsimile of the Times of London. The Times is the world's oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication.
Organizing & Citing Your Sources