ENGL 101: Monk, M. (Winter 2025): TCC Library databases - periodicals
Library subscription databases
Reference databases such as Gale eBooks, are outstanding sources of general, background information.
Other Library databases, such as ProQuest, PsycARTICLES, or Academic Search Complete are outstanding places to look for more detailed and narrower aspects of your topic. Your TCC Library subscribes to over 60 databases. Some of them will be great sources for your project. See the lists below for our recommendations.
While the free web will likely be a rich source of information for this project, as a college student you will also make some effort to find more formal sources of information. Learning to find and apply a variety of forms of information to your knowledge work helps you become a more flexible and competent thinker and student.
Note that it may be difficult to find more formal types of information on your hobby, avocation, passion project, or due to lack of experience you may not necessarily recognize how a piece of information could be applied to your work. Again, this would be a time to contact a TCC Librarian.
General databases - good coverage of many topics from a wide variety of publications
- ProQuest Periodical Databases This link opens in a new window
Multiple periodical databases providing coverage of a wide range of topics, with a mix of popular and scholarly sources. Particularly good for current events. - Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
(Ebsco) Periodical database. This multi-disciplinary database covers most disciplines taught at TCC. Most articles are scholarly. - JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full text of a range of academic journal articles and primary sources. TCC's collection includes: "Archival Journal / Primary Source Collections." Good coverage of history, sociology, anthropology, literature, and economics. All images from Artstor are now on JSTOR!
Using databases to add depth and dimension to your work
As with any search for information, you may find interesting things in unexpected places to help you not only share deeper information with your readers, but you may also learn something about others in your discourse community or even about yourself! To do this kind of work can be a little challenging. See a TCC Librarian with help in both searching for, and seeing potential, in forms of information you may be less used to using.
- PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window
Use this database to find information written by professionals for other professionals in the mental and behavioral health sciences. Includes articles mostly from peer-reviewed, scholarly research journals.
Here is an example of a search in PsycArticles for the keywords search: video game, with an example of a positive article that could potentially add depth and dimension to a paper on a students interest and experience with video gaming. Note that this article titled, "Character Immersion in Video Games as a Form of Acting" would work best for a student who identifies with the topic of this article and maybe recognizes this as true for themselves (but maybe hadn't thought of it in this way before).
Understanding different types of formal publications, scholarly, trade, and popular publications
Linking to your articles
video: "The Importance of Using Durable Links to Database Articles" by MAdams for TCC Library is licensed under CC BY SA
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