WRITE 95, ENGL 101, and College 101 Learning Community (LC 1): Davison, C. & Hunt, B. (Fall 2024): Finding articles
Finding more specific information about your topic
Once you have selected a topic and found some background information for your research assignments in LC 1, it is time to dig a little deeper. Articles from library databases will provide you with narrower, more specific information. In many instances, articles will be the source material that you use the most in your research assignments and papers. The two multidisciplinary databases below are great starting points for your research.
Library databases for articles
Why use article databases?
The Library has some journals, magazines, and newspapers in print -- but we have thousands more stored electronically in research databases, also called "library databases" or "article databases." Here are some reasons to use article databases:
- Looking for articles in library databases can help you find more specific information.
- Almost all library databases -- including all the ones featured below -- have built-in citation tools to help make the citation process easier.
- And to help save time, you can also narrow down your results to "peer-reviewed" articles, when you are looking for more authoritative information.
Try searching the following article databases:
- 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. - 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.
Search terms
When searching for information on a broad topic in background sources, using a single term, such as "famine," is usually best. However, when searching article databases, which provide narrower, more specific information about a topic, you will often need to add additional terms to your search so that you are not overwhelmed with results. The following are just a couple examples of searches that you might do related to the broad topic of "famine" in an article database.
- famine AND Ethiopia
- famine AND Ethiopia AND children
The "AND" that you see in each search above tells the database to search only for articles that contain each of the terms listed, which narrows the search results.
Academic Search Complete video tutorial
Explore the Academic Search Complete Database
Find academic, scholarly, and peer-reviewed journal articles.
- 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.
Searching Tutorial
- Academic Search Complete Tutorial (2020)Click the link to watch this video for an introduction to searching Academic Search Complete.
ProQuest video tutorial
Explore the ProQuest Database
Find newspaper, magazine, trade journal and scholarly journal articles.
- ProQuest Periodical Databases This link opens in a new windowMultiple periodical databases providing coverage of a wide range of topics, with a mix of popular and scholarly sources. Particularly good for current events.
ProQuest Tutorial
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