Why Use A Database?
Search a database to find journal, magazine, or newspaper articles. Some databases also provide access to other materials such as dissertations, book chapters, books, datasets, sound recordings, videos, etc.
- Some databases have the full text of articles. If not, follow these instructions to figure out if the library has the journal, or call the Research Help Desk at 405-325-4142 for assistance.
- What if the library does not have a journal article that you need? We can still get it for you via our interlibrary loan service. It's free! And articles often come electronically within a few days. For more information see the interlibrary loan page.
Area Studies
These databases are useful for finding articles and other materials about individual regions of the world. Also see this guide to International and Area Studies Resources.
- American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (Ebsco)Multi-disciplinary coverage of East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, online resources, and selected government publications published in the United States and Canada.
- ARTFL (12th-20th C.; Univ. of Chicago)Classic works of French literature, non-fiction prose, and technical writing.
- Asahi Shimbun AJWEnglish language digital version of the Japanese newspaper.
- Bibliography of Asian Studies (Ebsco)East, Southeast, and South Asia, with special focus on the humanities and social sciences. References to or full text of western-language journal and review articles, conference proceedings, chapters in edited volumes, and Festschriften .
- China Academic Journals (2000-present; CNKI)Full text of Chinese language journals in the areas of economics, politics, law, education, social sciences, literature, history, and philosophy.
- ClasePeriodica (Firstsearch)Multidisciplinary coverage of Latin America. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, essays, conference proceedings, and technical reports in Spanish, Portuguese, French, and English.
- Handbook of Latin American Studies (Library of Congress)Multidisciplinary coverage of Latin America. References to journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference papers in Spanish and English. NOTE: "Check for Full Text" is not available in this database; you must search the Local Catalog for the title of the journal to see if we own it.
- HAPI, the Hispanic American Periodicals Index (Latin American Institute, UCLA)Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx communities in the United States. References to or full text of journal articles.
- Index Islamicus (Proquest)Islam, the Middle East and the Muslim world, all time periods. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, conference proceedings.
- Integrum (In Russian)Access to a large collection of Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) databases covering a wide range of topics. Includes archives of mass media, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, and reference information.
- JapanKnowledge Lib - Japan narejji Lib (In Japanese)Provides fully searchable and browsable English-Japanese and Japanese-English dictionaries, the Encyclopedia Nipponica and Encyclopedia of Japan, articles published in the weekly magazine Ekonomisuto, the Toyo Bunko, and other resources.
- Koseisha Zasshi Kijisakuin ShuseiReferences (in Japanese) to journal articles. Covers Meiji period to the present.
- RAMBI: Index of Articles on Jewish Studies (National Library of Israel)Academic articles and books covering all fields of Jewish studies as well as the study of Eretz Israel and the State of Israel. NOTE: "Check for Full Text" is not available in this database; you must search the Local Catalog for the title of the journal to see if we own it.
Ancient and Medieval History
These are the major databases for finding scholarly works about about ancient and medieval history. Also see the primary sources guide.
- International Medieval Bibliography (Brepolis)Cover c. 400-1500. References to or full text of journal articles, books, conference proceedings, collected essays, Festschriften, and exhibition catalogues.
- Iter Bibliography: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (including Iter Bibliography)Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). References to or full text of books and journal articles, conference proceedings, dissertations.
- L'Année Philologique (Brepolis)Classical antiquity, from prehistory to the Middle Ages. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, conference proceedings, dissertations, festschriften, and more.
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlineResearch guides for many subject areas, including classics and medieval studies.
- Tables of Contents of Journals of Interest to Classicists (TOCS-IN)Tables of contents of a selection of Classics, Near Eastern Studies, and Religion journals. NOTE: "Check for Full Text" is not available in this database; you must search the Local Catalog for the title of the journal to see if we own it.
Video, Images, Audio
These databases cover still images, video, and audio. See also the Film and Media Studies and the Audio and Video Resources at OU guides.
- American Archive of Public Broadcasting (Library of Congress and WGBH in Boston)An initiative to digitally preserve and make accessible public broadcasting radio and television programming,
- American History in Video (Alexander Street Press)Access to commercial and governmental newsreels, archival footage, public affairs footage, and important documentaries related to American history.
- ARTstor (JSTOR)Repository of over two million images that include collections from a wide variety of civilizations, time-periods, and media. The images are drawn from different sources, such as museums, archaeological teams, photo archives, slide collections, and art reference publishers.
- Avon: Academic Video Online (Alexander Street Press)Streaming academic video content, including acclaimed and award-winning interdisciplinary documentaries, independent non-fiction films, training and instructional videos, foreign films and shorts, and other educational titles. NOTE: AVON video access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
- British Pathé Archives85,000 historic films from 1896 to 1976, includes footage from Britain and around the globe. The archive is particularly strong in its coverage of the First and Second World Wars.
- Kanopy Streaming VideoAccess to streaming video supporting classes in the arts, business, health, media/communication, science, humanities and education. Kanopy video access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
- Library of Congress - Prints and PhotographsDigitized photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings.
- New World Cinema: Independent Features and Shorts (Alexander Street Press)Streaming full-length feature films from leading independent distributors and award-winning short films.
- Smithsonian Open AccessDigital assets that are created, stored, or maintained by the Smithsonian. This might include text, still images, sound recordings, research datasets, 3D models, collections data, and more.
- Swank Digital CampusSwank's streaming platform offers access to over 25,000 feature films, documentaries, foreign films, and TV shows from the largest movie studios, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Lions Gate, MGM, and others. NOTE: Swank Digital Campus access is mediated. This means that any video not currently licensed for use will require the user to request access. Access is being enabled for class use with instructor approval.
- Television News of the Civil Rights Era (1950-1970; Univ. of Virginia)Aims to collect, digitize, and present television news footage from the period.
Essential Databases: Secondary Literature Of History
These are the major databases that cover history or history of science.
- America: History and Life (Ebsco)U.S. and Canadian topics, prehistory to the present. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, dissertations, etc.
- Historical Abstracts (Ebsco)World history (except the U.S. and Canada), 1450 to the present. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book reviews, dissertations, etc.
- History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (Ebsco)References to or full text of journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, dissertations, and more.
- Reviews in American History (Johns Hopkins University Press)"..Essays examining landmark works written by leading historians are also regularly featured. The journal covers all areas of American history, including cutting-edge and more traditional sub-fields."
Multidisciplinary Databases
These databases cover history and other disciplines.
- Academic Search Complete (Ebsco)References and links to the full text of popular and scholarly articles and book reviews. Some PDF content going back as far as 1887.
- Google ScholarGoogle Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
When off campus, be sure to access Google Scholar settings > library links > type in University of Oklahoma. - JSTORIncludes the full text and complete archives of core scholarly journals in many disciplines, some dating from the 1600s. Current issues may not be available.
- Project MuseFull text of scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, and social sciences.
- ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (was Dissertation Abstracts)Citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day. Over a million full-text dissertations are available for download in PDF format; most full text is for dissertations since 1997. Also includes UK & Ireland content.
NOTE: Many universities have started archiving dissertations locally rather than through this database. Try a search in Worldcat, note the name of the institution where the dissertation was written, and go to that institution's catalog to see if a copy is in a local repository.
Most OU dissertations are full text through summer 2013; after that date, find OU dissertations in SHAREOK.
Disciplines Other Than History
These databases provide access to material in various subject areas that have proven useful to history students in the past.
- Art Index (Ebsco)Traditional art, art history, archaeology, architecture, fashion design, interior design, visual art, folk art, film, and non-western art. References to or full text of journal articles, yearbooks, and museum bulletins.
- ATLA Religion Database (Ebsco)Biblical studies, world religions, church history, etc. References to or full text of journal articles, essays, book reviews.
- Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America (Ebsco)Formerly Bibliography of Native North Americans (BNNA). Native North American history, life, and culture. References to or full text of journal articles, books, essays, conference papers, dissertations, U.S. government documents.
- Black Studies Center (1900-present; Proquest)Scholarly journals, commissioned essays by scholars in Black Studies, historic indexes, and the Chicago Defender newspaper, 1910-1975.
- Communication Source (Ebsco)Communication, linguistics, rhetoric and discourse, speech-language pathology, media studies. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, books, and book reviews.
- Contemporary Women's Issues (Gale)Contemporary and international women's issues in areas such as education, health, legal status, reproductive rights, and feminism. References or links to the full text of a variety of materials from journal articles to fact sheets.
- ERIC (Ebsco)Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. References to or full text of journal articles and research reports (ERIC Documents).
- Ethnic Newswatch Complete (Proquest)Newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic and minority press.
- Film and Television Literature Index (Ebsco)Coverage includes film and television theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, and more. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, trade publications, books, and reviews. See this page for information on finding film reviews.
- HeinOnlineLegal periodicals, code of federal regulations, legal classics, treaties and agreements, U.S. Attorney General opinions, U.S. Federal Legislative History, U.S. Presidential Library, U.S. statutes at large, the U.S. Supreme Court Library, and more.
- International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance (Ebsco)All aspects of theatre and performance. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book chapters, and more.
- Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (Proquest)All aspects of the study of language including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. References to or full text of journal articles, book reviews, books, book chapters, dissertations, and working papers.
- MEDLINE (Ebsco)Medicine, dentistry, nursing, and other health fields. Created by the National Library of Medicine. References to or full text of journal articles and some magazine articles.
- MLA International Bibliography (Ebsco)Literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. References to or full text of journal articles, books, book chapters, and dissertations.
- Music Index (Ebsco)Music, musicians, and the music industry for both the classical and popular worlds of music. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, book reviews, trade publications, and books.
- PAIS Index (Proquest)Public and social policy issues, foreign and domestic. References to or full text of journal articles, government documents, books, pamphlets, yearbooks, statistical directories, grey literature, and more.
- SocINDEX (Ebsco)Sociology and other social and behavioral sciences. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, reviews, trade publications, dissertation, books, and conference papers.
- SportDiscus (Ebsco)All aspects of sports, fitness, recreation, and related fields. References to or full text of journal and magazine articles, books, dissertations, reports, audiovisual materials, and websites related to all aspects of sports and fitness.
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (Proquest)Political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration/policy. References to or full text of journal articles, book reviews, books, dissertations, and working papers.