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Library Research Guide
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Whether researching an aspect of today's popular culture in the U.S., kinship in France, or social upheavals in nineteenth century Argentina, start your search in the database ProQuest Research Library. It covers publications ranging from popular titles like:
- Daily Beast
- Variety
- New Yorker
- Jet
- Outdoor Life
to academic/scholarly titles like:
- Economist
- Journal of Leisure Research
- Asian Ethnology
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ProQuest Research Library
Publication Dates Covered: 1971 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
This is a good starting point for finding journal articles on almost any topic. Over 150 academic subject areas are covered, and most articles are full-text. Searches can be limited to scholarly, peer-reviewed journals.
Cultures & Identities: Academic Sources
These databases explore cultures and identities. All include academic materials, particularly journal articles, but you may find popular or community publications too.
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Diversity Database Suite
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Provides a combined search for Ethnic NewsWatch and Ethnic NewsWatch History which feature newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic and minority presses; GenderWatch which features historical and current perspectives of gender roles; and Alt-PressWatch which showcases some of the nation’s most respected and cited grassroots publications. Searches can be narrowed to peer-reviewed publications. -
Religion and Philosophy Collection
Paid for by K-State Libraries
Includes more than 300 full-text journals, pertaining to topics such as world religions, biblical studies, language, and philosophy. -
Sociological AbstractsPublication Dates Covered: 1963 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Search international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Indexes journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. -
Women and Social Movements in the United States 1600-2000: Basic EditionPublication Dates Covered: 1600-2000 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Examines perspectives on women’s social movements from colonial times to the present. Brings together books, images, documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies, documenting the multiplicity of women’s activism in public life.
Cultural Expression: Images & Sound
Theses databases provide music samples and images illustrating cultural expression from around the world.
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Global Jukebox
Free Resource
The Global Jukebox explores expressive patterns of musical recordings in their cultural-geographic and diasporic settings. -
Music Online Smithsonian Global Sound for LibrariesPaid for by K-State Libraries
An encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions. The collection provides an unprecedented variety of online resources that include diverse musical forms, historical speeches, poets and authors reading their own works, and an extensive children's collection.
Cultural Expression: Journal Articles
These databases provide primarily academic resources discussing how cultures express themselves.
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Art Full Text
Publication Dates Covered: Indexing 1982 - present; abstracts 1994 - present; select full text 1997 - present Paid for by the State Library of Kansas
Addresses “art” in the broadest sense including topics relevant to archaeology, architecture, art history, ceramics, fashion design, graphic arts, interior design, landscape architecture, metalsmithing, photography, sculpture, textiles and more. Includes content from international arts journals, periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. -
Performing Arts Periodicals Database
Paid for by K-State Libraries
A comprehensive guide to the journal literature on performing arts–drama, theater, dance, film, television, and more–from both scholarly and popular publications. Multidisciplinary fields include film, drama, dance, stagecraft, broadcast arts, circus performance, comedy, storytelling, and more. -
Project MusePublication Dates Covered: 1995 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Full-text scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Titles include the most widely held and heavily used core titles from noted academic publishers. Subjects include literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, mathematics and others. -
RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale) Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text
Publication Dates Covered: 1967 - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
A comprehensive bibliography of writings about music featuring citations, abstracts and indexes. It covers nearly one and a half million publications from the early 19th century to the present on traditional music, popular music, jazz, classical music, and related subjects, enhanced with the full text of over 260 periodicals. New titles are being added annually.
Historical Context: Journal Articles
Need to place a work in historical context? Try these two databases. America: History and Life covers U.S. and Canadian history. Historical Abstracts covers the rest of the world.
Both databases have an Advanced Search feature that will let you limit your search to a time frame in history.
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America: History & Life
Publication Dates Covered: 1964 - present Simultaneous users: 6 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Indexes and abstracts for approximately 1,800 journals in the field of United States and Canadian history. Full-text coverage for more than 280 journals and more than 80 books. Contains citations and links to book and media reviews. Can search by time period.
HIstorical Newspapers
Browse historical newspapers to research an historic event or gain cultural context.
Library Databases
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Center for Research Libraries (CRL)The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) collects newspapers from around the world. Request copies through Interlibrary Loan.
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New York Times, Historical
Publication Dates Covered: 1851-2021 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Digitized version of The New York Times since its first issue in 1851. Search the full text of articles to find articles on a wide variety of topics. Full name of the database is ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index. -
Times Digital ArchivePublication Dates Covered: 1785-2019 Paid for by K-State Libraries
The complete issues of more than two hundred years of The Times of London are available for keyword searching by users, including articles, advertisements, and illustrations. Coverage of specific events and trends can be reviewed, providing a contemporary view to modern researchers.
Free Internet Sources
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Chronicling AmericaLocate digitized copies of historical (1789-1943) U.S. newspapers by language, ethnicity, or state.
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The European Library NewspapersBrowse for historical newspapers from Europe.
Primary Sources
Sources that provide historical context include: photographs, newsreels, newspaper articles, maps, and music.
Primary sources date from the same time period or were written/created about an event by someone who experienced or witnessed it.
Primary sources may be found in databases, archives, museums, digital collections, books, personal collections (photo albums, attics, filing cabinets)
Free Internet Collections:
Many archives and museums are digitizing items in their collections to make them more widely available online. Their websites may include digital archives or digital collections.
Some significant websites exist to centrally collect and disseminate primary source materials. These include:
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Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean EphemeraPrinceton University Library's project to digitize ephemera (flyers, brochures, stickers) from their Latin American Ephemera Collection. Most materials created in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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Digital Public Library of AmericaDigital Public Library of America (DPLA) serves as a clearinghouse for digital collections from libraries and archives across the U.S. Browse and search collections by location and languages.
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EuropeanaA portal to discovering collections from thousands of European museums, galleries and archives.
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Internet History SourcebookCreated at Fordham University, "The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts presented cleanly (without advertising or excessive layout) for educational use."
Library Databases:
K-State Libraries subscribe to a number of primary source databases. These include:
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Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Publication Dates Covered: 1701-1800 Paid for by K-State Libraries
Includes eighteenth century collections on history and geography, social sciences, religion and philosophy, fine arts, literature and language, law, medicine, science, and technology. Users can view digital page images; full-text searchable. -
HathiTrust Digital Library
Publication Dates Covered: pre-1500-2009 Paid for by K-State Libraries
A preservation repository with millions of volumes digitized by Google, the Internet Archive, and HathiTrust’s partner institutions. Approximately one-third of the volumes are in the public domain and can be viewed in their entirety. K-State faculty, staff, and students who login to HathiTrust with their K-State eID can download full-text PDFs of these public domain works. -
Nineteenth Century Collections Online
Publication Dates Covered: 1800-1900, with some exceptions Paid for by K-State Libraries
Collection of primary materials from the 19th century on all kinds of topics. Fully searchable documents, books, images, maps, and other types of materials. Societies from around the world are profiled, as well as issues such as women’s rights, science, technology, politics, and business.
