Using Databases

Which Database?

At this point, you're ready to dive into some more serious research, and it's time to explore some databases. First, check out the Humanities Core Secondary Sources Guide.

There are many databases to choose from, and each one has its own strengths and limitations. You will probably want to run your searches in more than one database.

Flow chart diagram of which database to choose: If book, then Library Search; if a specific title, then Library Search or Google Scholar; if starting out, then a general database

Generally speaking...

If you need a book or a chapter from a book, you might want to start with UC Library Search, which searches the book catalogs of all of the UC Libraries plus hundreds of databases.
If you are looking for a specific title (of a book or article), UC Library Search or Google Scholar are good bets.
If you're just starting out, it's probably best to look for articles in a general, multidisciplinary database like JSTOR or Academic Search Complete
If you have already looked in a general database and want to dig deeper, you might benefit from exploring more discipline-specific databases

Where's the full text?

Some databases are mostly full-text digital collections. Others are mostly indexes that let you know that an article exists. When you don't see an article linked, click on Get it at UC to explore options for getting full-text.

Video tutorials

Short (3 minutes or less) how-to-videos of useful databases are available on the Humanities Core Research Guide: How-To-Videos page.

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