Find Articles in Databases
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MLA International Bibliography The Modern Language Association of America's database of journal articles, books, dissertations, working papers, proceedings, and bibliographies covering scholarship on literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory and criticism, dramatic arts, printing, publishing, rhetoric, and composition, with coverage from 1926 to the present.
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Academic Search Complete A multidisciplinary database providing full-text access to scholarly and popular journals in broad areas of academic study, as well as indexing and abstracts of additional titles unavailable in full text. Coverage: 1990-present.
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PsycINFO (1872-Current) Contains citations and summaries of journal articles, book chapters, books, and technical reports in the field of psychology and psychological aspects of related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, anthropology, business and law. Journal coverage from 1887-present, current chapter and book coverage from 1987-present.
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Sociological Abstracts Indexes the international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Provides abstracts of journal articles and citations of book reviews as well as abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Coverage dates from 1952 to the present.
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Arts (Proquest) Search across journal articles, historic periodicals, newspapers and dissertations to find scholarly and popular analyses on topics in fine arts, fashion, design, film, music, dance and theater.
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Project MUSE Project MUSE is a leading provider of digital humanities and social sciences content; since 1995, its electronic journal collections have supported a wide array of research needs at academic, public, special, and school libraries worldwide. MUSE books and journals, from leading university presses and scholarly societies, are fully integrated for search and discovery.modules, designed to help researchers find reliable sources of information by directing them to chapters, books, websites, archives, or data sets.
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JSTOR Full-text access to thousands of scholarly journals covering the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, plus monographs and other academic materials.
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Google Scholar Google Scholar indexes many scholarly journals, theses, books, and white papers from academic and society publishers. It also indexes patents and some case law.
Articles in scholarly journals are particularly important to college-level research. Search for articles in databases and look for an option to limit your search to peer-reviewed or scholarly journals.
Databases can also include magazine & newspaper articles. Although not scholarly, these articles can provide current news or different points of view.
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US Newsstream (ProQuest) US News only, 1980 - present. Includes newspapers, newswires, blogs, and news sites. Provides full-text.
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Alternative Press Index The Alternative Press Index offers online access to articles from a large collection of alternative periodicals, particularly those concerned with radical social change. Common topics include socialism, environmentalism, feminism, and LGBT rights.
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Ethnic NewsWatch Full-text database of periodicals of the American ethnic and minority press, with works offering African-American, Arab-American, Asian-American, European-American, Latino, Jewish, and Native American perspectives.
For more databases specializing in newspapers, check our Newspaper Guide.
To identify databases focusing on specific subject areas, check our Choosing a Database Guide.
Find Articles in a Known Magazine or Newspaper
Want to see if Colby has access to a particular magazine or journal? On the Colby Libraries home page click on the "Journals and Articles" tab. 
Once the orange bar has moved down, enter the publication's name in the search box. 
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New York Times 1980 to Current "This is considered the official U.S. newspaper because it publishes the complete text of important documents, speeches and presidential press conferences. The paper's reporters have won scores of Pulitzer Prizes throughout the publication's 150-year history."
MLA Citation Help
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MLA Handbook by The Modern Language Association, the authority on research and writing, takes a fresh look at documenting sources in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. Works are published today in a dizzying range of formats. A book, for example, may be read in print, online, or as an e-book--or perhaps listened to in an audio version. On the Web, modes of publication are regularly invented, combined, and modified. Previous editions of the MLA Handbook provided separate instructions for each format, and additional instructions were required for new formats. In this groundbreaking new edition of its best-selling handbook, the MLA recommends instead one universal set of guidelines, which writers can apply to any type of source. Shorter and redesigned for easy use, the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook guides writers through the principles behind evaluating sources for their research. It then shows them how to cite sources in their writing and create useful entries for the works-cited list. More than just a new edition, this is a new MLA style.Call Number: LB2369 .G53 2016 Colby Miller 1st Floor Reading Room Reference. Also Colby Miller 1st Floor Research Librarians AlcoveISBN: 9781603292627Publication Date: 2016, 8th Edition
Older editions of the MLA handbook are also available. However, there were significant changes in the 2016 edition listed above. OWL uses the 2016 edition.
Photo: Power Transmission by JPitha (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Searching Tips in Database & Catalogs
KEYWORD SEARCHES
- Experiment with different search combinations, using synonyms and related terms.
- Use an asterisk to stand in for multiple word endings: environ* = environment, environments, environmental
- Use quotation marks to "glue together" a phrase: "social justice"
- Use AND between terms to narrow results to items containing both terms: "public spaces" AND privatization
- Using OR between items (within parenthesis) widens results: (nature OR wilderness)
- Combine terms to build search strings.
SUBJECT SEARCHES
Find an item of interest using a keyword search? Look at its item record to identify Subject Terms. These links group material together by topic which can yield more precise results. Sample subject headings:
- Landscapes
- Nature
- Public Spaces
- Place Attachment
- Place (Philosophy)
- Cultural Landscapes
- Urban Ecology (Sociology)
- Cities and Towns
Note that searching a broad subject in CBBcat can lead to a further list of sub-divisions. These can be helpful in focusing your research.
CITATION TRAILS
Check the notes, references and bibliographies of every relevant article or book. You may discover a book or article perfect for your topic. One good source can lead to another!
Photo: The Look, Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Tips for Using Google
Don't use regular Google to find scholarly material - Use library databases or the library catalog. However, Google, used carefully, can help find alternative voices, community organizations and digital collections. Check with your professor if unsure about assignment requirements.
Search precisely - Beware of common words or words that have multiple meanings. Specify as much as possible, but also explore alternative phrasing. Do pre-research to find names of relevant and reliable online publications and blogs.
Use "Advanced Search" - On your Google search results page, click on Settings. The "Site or Domain" field can be useful in limiting your results to government information (.gov) or items created at educational institutions (.edu).
Use "Tools" - On your Google search results page, click on Tools > All Results > Verbatim. This can help focus your results. Limiting by date can get you items with greater currency.
Evaluate Extremely Carefully! - Investigate every source by doing separate searches of source creators, authors and publications. Every source you interact with is a conversation. With whom are you talking? What are their values and motivations? Are they getting their information from reliable sources and interpreting evidence fairly and intelligently? Who is the intended audience?
Know the Limitations of Web Searching - Most scholarly articles are either not found by search engines or are behind paywalls. Information is sorted and ranked according to commercial/consumer/popular considerations. Information is not vetted for accuracy or reliability.
OneSearch
- OneSearch should only be used for very precise searches, such as:
- Finding an known article by searching its title
- Finding book reviews for a specific book
- Finding articles or book chapters on lesser-known people or narrow topics
- Use limiters! E.g. journal articles, scholarly material, book chapters, book reviews
- It's usually NOT good for searching broad topics. Instead use CBBcat or recommended databases.
Find Books in our Catalog
SEARCH our library catalog
Books in Miller, Olin or Bixler Library? Ask for directions at a library Service Desk.
Books at the Colby Storage Facility, Bates or Bowdoin? To order click 
You will be notified by email when your request is available to pickup at the Miller Service Desk.
Not finding what you want in CBBcat?
Look on the CBBcat search result page for a link to MaineCat, which expands your search to other Maine libraries.
Not sure if a book is scholarly? Check with your professor or a librarian.
Course Librarian
Contact me by email or chat (send me a Google Hangouts invite). Or let's talk about your research or information need on Google Meet or Zoom!
Reference Sources
- Provide helpful overviews
- Help you identify search terms
- Allow topic exploration
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Oxford English Dictionary The full text online version of the Oxford English Dictionary contains both the complete Second Edition and the New Edition in progress.
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Credo General Reference A search engine covering hundreds of reference works, including dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, and books of quotations, plus subject-specific titles covering topics such as arts, business, history, law, literature, medicine, music, philosophy, psychology, religion, science, and technology.
More Guides & Tutorials
Need to use these resources off campus?
For the most reliable access, install VPN (Virtual Private Network) on your computer or device.
Instructions are on the Colby VPN webpage: http://www.colby.edu/its/virtual-private-network-vpn/