Library Guides: American History: Databases

How do databases contribute to my research?

Databases are particularly useful for finding articles on your topic. While you can find titles of journals and newspapers in the Dacus Online catalog, you'll need to use an index to find articles. The databases below index hundreds of journals, as well as some other publications. Many of the results will be available in full-text - that is, you can get to the entire article. Others are citations or abstracts, which can lead you to the full-text.

Search tip: If you find a citation for an article that looks good, try searching for the name of the journal in OneSearch and see if we have the full-text available.

America: History and Life Database

America: History and Life Full Text
A comprehensive source covering the history of the U.S. and Canada, it indexes a number of journals. There are over 450,000 bibliographic entries in the database, many available in full text. Includes citations and links to book and media reviews.

Other Databases for American History

In addition to the America: History and Life Database, several other databases include information on U.S. history.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) provides full text publications, including peer-reviewed journals. Multidisciplinary coverage spans virtually every area of academic study.
Biography (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
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Provides contextual information on the world's most influential people. Search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender as well as keyword and full text.
History Reference Center This link opens in a new window
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Includes full text for many of the leading history periodicals.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
An open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
JSTOR Archival Journal and Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is the "scholarly journal archive." A non-profit cooperative project of university libraries, JSTOR has converted the contents of over 4,000 core journals in academic disciplines into electronic form.
Artstor images are now incorporated into JSTOR. More information on this is available on their website. Instructional videos can be found on their YouTube channel.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
The Oxford African American Studies Center provides students, scholars and librarians with articles by top scholars in the field. The core content includes:
- Africana
- Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895
- Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present
- Black Women in America, Second Edition
- African American National Biography

Newspaper Resources

Newspapers can be another rich source of information about historical events, trends, politics, etc.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
A Library of Congress sponsored project that provides access to thousands of newspapers across the U.S. One can perform searches by keyword as well as by state and inclusive dates. This is an excellent collection of primary resource material on just about any subject in American history.

Newsbank This link opens in a new window
Find global information on topics related to business and economics, careers, criminal justice, education, environmental studies, health, international studies, performing and fine arts, political science, religion, social issues, sports, STEM and more from a variety of news media featuring newspapers, videos and web-only content including the Charlotte Observer Collection, Rock Hill Herald Historical and Current Collection, Post and Courier Collection, The State and international sources.

Acquisitions & Collections Librarian

Martha Smith

Email Me

Contact:

803-323-2274

Subjects: History, Law