Gingrich Library: FYS 100 Women, Gender, and Popular Media: Sources of Information

Articles

Articles are crucial for scholarly communication and have a narrow scope as the information is focused on a topic. Scholarly articles tend to begin with an abstract which is an overview of the article. Titles can be misleading, so it is best to read the abstract to learn what the article is about. They are typically lengthy and have a thorough bibliography. You will find articles when you search in a database. Several recommended databases are below.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
This is a GREAT database to start with! It has over 12,000 articles in every field.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar also covers every field, but use it carefully since it includes books, conference papers, and more material beyond articles. It's a great resource for tracking how influential an article has been.
Peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, abstracts and articles, from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories, universities and other scholarly organizations are available. Google Scholar helps identify the most relevant research across the scholarly world. Google Scholar can be used to search several Albright subsciption databases, e.g., JSTOR, Project Muse, ScienceDirect, etc.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Another database that will point you to scholarly articles, but use it AFTER you have a good handle on your topic, since the articles often assume you understand your topic well.
Due to "moving wall" agreements with the publishers, JSTOR does not include current issues of journals; the most recently published issue of any current journal will not appear in JSTOR until 1-5 years after the publishing date.
Sage Online Journals This link opens in a new window
You will find good scholarly articles in gender studies, mass communication, and sociology.
Select "SAGE Journals Available to Me" for fulltext articles available at Albright or search "All SAGE Content" for additional items that can be ordered through Interlibrary Loan (Tipasa).

SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
World's most comprehensive and highest quality sociology research database. Its extensive scope and content provide users with a wealth of extremely useful information encompassing the broad spectrum of sociological study. Coverage: Full text coverage spans from 1904 to present for 777 of the journals, indexing from 1895 to present for other sources
Coverage includes abortion, criminology & criminal justice, demography, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, marriage & family, political sociology, religion, rural & urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social structure, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, sociological history, sociological research, sociological theory, substance abuse & other addictions, violence and many others.

Background Information and Books

When you are first researching a topic, it is helpful to use reference sources to get background information. If you are not familiar with a topic, a reference source gives you context and alternative search terms. Books can be a treasure chest of information that may not be available in any other resource, especially when looking at the historical treatment of a topic. Most scholarly books also provide extensive bibliographies, directing you to other books, articles, and various other types of sources that can be very useful to your research. (Tip: You don't have to read the whole book!)

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Collection of fulltext online reference materials. Content includes dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, and subject-specific titles from art to accountancy, science to Shakespeare, and law to literature. Coverage varies by title.
Catalion (Albright Library's Online Catalog) This link opens in a new window
Search for the print and electronic holdings contained in the Albright College Library and in selected campus departmental libraries.