Library Databases vs Free Online Sources
Library databases are generally not free and open accessible to the general public. They are most often available to library members, or anyone who is a member of a university or research center (students, instructors, researchers, etc).
There are two options to directly access a specific database:
- Use the A-Z database link on the library home page, then click on the letter that corresponds to the desired database (ex: J for JSTOR, or A for American Life & History)
- Use the direct links provided in the boxes below
The advantages of starting research directly within a database include a more direct, focused, and relevant working environment.
Each database will have its own interface to display its specificities and various filters to refine searches, but once you understand how databases function, they usually all contain many common elements to narrow down results, including:
- Advanced search boxes
- Publication dates
- Automated citation managers
- Abstracts
- Subject terms
History Databases
- America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowComprehensive access to literature on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Covers 1,600 academic journals, 270 magazines, dissertations and more, published from 1863 to the present.
- History Reference Center (EBSCO) @ EBSCOhost This link opens in a new windowThe database includes full text for over 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books from leading history publishers. Also included is full text for nearly 150 leading history periodicals and more than 57,000 historical documents, over 78,000 biographies, more than 113,000 historical photos and maps, and more than 80 hours of historical video. Access alternative interface
- North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowThis database includes 71 authors and approximately 10,000 pages of information intended to provide a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. It is composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, and some audio voices of the immigrants.
- North American Women's Letters and Diaries (Alexander Street Press) This link opens in a new windowNorth American Women's Letters and Diaries (NAWLD) includes the immediate experiences of 632 women, as revealed in approximately 82,000 pages of diaries and letters. When complete, the collection will include more than 150,000 pages of primary materials spanning more than 300 years. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database. Coverage: 1675-1950.
JSTOR
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
An archive of more than 4,600 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences from nearly 1,200 publishers. Thanks to both the Murphy Library Endowment Fund and UWL Student Differential Tuition for providing access to the JSTOR Arts & Sciences XV collection.
Artstor (Images)
- Artstor This link opens in a new windowArtstor is a digital library of nearly one million images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences, along with a set of tools to view, present, and manage the images for research and teaching purposes. Entire collections of images have been contributed by museums, libraries' special collections, scholars, individual photographers and photo archives.
Please note: Users must register an account with Artstor in order to download images.
If you prefer not to register to get the full extent of the library's subscription to Artstor, you can access a reduced amount of images using the public version of Artstor where images can be downloaded without prior registration.