Periodicals are published at regular intervals throughout the year such as a magazine, journal, or newspaper:
A library database is an electronic catalog, index, and digital warehouse for published materials. These materials most commonly include magazine, newspaper, and journal articles. Often, other items such as books, videos, and audio files are included as well.
Databases are highly organized and allow students to search for information on a topic by keyword, subject, author, title, and phrase. Most databases at El Camino College provide access to full-text content, which means that you will find entire articles available, not just summaries or citations of articles.
From the homepage of the Library's website, look for the link for Library Databases A-Z listings to access available databases with descriptions of what content is accessible in each. If accessing the database from off-campus, you will be prompted to login using your ECC email and password (same as used with Canvas & MyECC).
Once you select the database you wish to search, be sure to use the available search options and filters to narrow your results. For example, you can limit to articles published during a specific date range, coming from scholarly peer-reviewed journals, or provide the full-text of the article.
The El Camino College Library provides access to specialized tools (databases) where you can find digital versions of articles that typically are not freely available through Google or other search engines. Some databases cover a variety of subject areas, while others are more specialized.
From the homepage of the Library's website, look for the search tab titled "Articles and Databases" and use the drop-down menus to see a selection of databases by subject area or to go directly to a specific database. Link to the Database Descriptions page to see information about the type of content accessible from each database.
Once you select the database you wish to search, be sure to use the available search options to help narrow your results. For example, you can limit to articles published during a specific date range, coming from scholarly peer-reviewed journals, or provide the full-text of the article.
The following is a list of library databases that could be useful for your research topics in this class:
Provides full text coverage of the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes more than 280 journals and 100 books, selective indexing for over 1,700 journals, and abstracts in English of foreign language articles.
Covers themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. Includes historical (primary) documents, reference articles, journal citations and full-text journal articles.
Gale Archives Unbound offers primary source collections covering African American Studies, American Indian Studies, Asian American Studies, Latin American & Caribbean Studies, LGBT Studies, Holocaust Studies, Women's Studies and more. The collections includes an important combination of newspapers, manuscripts, books, pamphlets and court cases covering U.S. and global events from the 18th through the 21st Century. They are cross-disciplinary, providing coverage on a wide variety of topics, including those addressing important conversations around diversity & inclusion.
Proquest Black Studies is a tool that supports research, teaching, and learning in Black Studies and other disciplines that benefit from a more detailed coverage of the black experience such as history, literature, political science, sociology, philosophy, and religion. This platform provides a digital core collection of primary and secondary sources that record and illuminate the Black experience, from ancient Africa through modern times.
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources in a variety of subject areas including economics, history, sociology, and political science. NOTE: not ALL JSTOR material is available via the ECC subscription.
Access to more than 8,800 full-text journals and 7,700 peer-reviewed journal on a variety of subjects including those within STEM research, social sciences and the humanities. This is a comprehensive multi-disciplinary database.
Access to 5000+ high-quality eBooks on the topics of diversity, ethnicity and inclusion across disciplines from more then 230 publishers.
U.S. Newsstream enables users to search the most recent premium U.S. news content, as well as archives which stretch back into the 1980s featuring newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites in active full-text format. Access includes major dailies including the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and the Chicago Tribune. US Newsstream also offers one of the largest collections of local and regional newspapers.
Features information on up-to-date social issues, providing pro/con viewpoint articles, topic overviews, full-text magazine, academic journal, and newspaper articles, statistics, images, podcasts, and links to credible websites for each topic.
the largest collection available on sexuality, gender, and LGBTQ studies; global in scope. 1.5 million pages of primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities worldwide. Unique content from newsletters, papers, government documents, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other types of primary sources sheds light on the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more. Historical documents from 35 countries, with over 15 languages represented.
Focusing on the 19th and 20th centuries, Women's Studies Archive provides a history of the social, political, and professional aspects of women's lives and offers a look at the roles, experiences, and achievements of women in society. Through a variety of documents such as diaries, letters, photographs, news clippings, organizational records, and journals, it presents a record of the issues that have affected women, societal contributions, social status, and women's movements.
Ethnic Diversity Source supports the study of African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, European Americans, Jewish Americans, Latinx Americans, Multiracial Americans, and Native Americans, among others, with respect to their cultures, traditions, social treatment, and lived experiences. Scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, historical documents, and biographies are complemented by primary sources, such as speeches and interviews. Complete with robust collections of videos and e-books,
Offers thousands of high-quality streaming educational films and videos on a wide variety of subjects from top producers including National Geographic, PBS, Films for Humanities, and many more. Users can register their own personal account to save film clips and playlists.
A comprehensive streaming video collection of over 70,000 titles spanning a wide range of subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, film, health, history, music, and more. Curated for the educational experience, it includes documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs and newsreels, field recordings, commercials, demonstrations, original and raw footage.
This interactive tutorial introduces the parts of a scholarly article, and how to use an abstract to quickly determine relevance.
(Courtesy of NC State Univ Libraries)
