LibGuides: MLA 500U: Research Methods: Research Tools in the Humanities

Primary Sources

18th Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Digital texts of books published in England in several languages between 1701-1800. Coverage from a variety of materials -- including books and broadsides, Bibles, tract books and sermons to printed ephemera -- with works by many well-known and lesser-known authors, women, and collections from the French Revolution.
Full-text digital page images; 1701 - 1800
19th Century British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive collection of national and regional newspapers of Victorian Britain carefully selected by an editorial board from the British Library and providing a broad yet detailed view of British life in the 19th century.
Full-text; 1800 - 1900
19th Century British Pamphlets Collection This link opens in a new window
Contains the most significant British pamphlets held in UK research libraries, providing researchers with an immensely rich and coherent corpus of primary sources with which to study the socio-political and economic landscape of 19th century Britain.
Full-text; 1800 - 1900
19th Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Collections of 19th century newspapers, with an emphasis on such topics as the American Civil War, African-American culture and history, Western migration and Antebellum-era life, among other subjects.
Full-text; 1800 - 1900
19th Century UK Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Periodicals published in Great Britain giving insight into many aspects of the 19th century lifeliterature and culture, empire, feminism, the history of the book, the creative and performing arts, sport and leisure, science and medicine, the professions.
Full-text; 1800 - 1900
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans (1639-1800) This link opens in a new window
Books on history, culture, religion, commerce, education, literature, poetry, music, politics, travel etc. from the Colonial period through the early 19th century. Includes the supplemental material from the the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Full-text books, scores, and newspapers; 1639 - 1819
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819) This link opens in a new window
Books from 1801-1819 published in America on the topics of history, culture, religion, commerce, education, literature, poetry, music, politics, travel, etc. Includes the supplemental material from the the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Full-text books, scores, and newspapers; 1801 - 1819
Early American Newspapers [Gift of Edwin S. Snead III, Class of 1951] This link opens in a new window
Newspaper articles on history, culture, religion, commerce, education, politics, and more from the Colonial Period through the Reconstruction Period. [more information about this gift]
Full-text; 1690 - 1879
Historical Newspapers (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Full-text archives of six national papers of record and five historically Black papers.
Atlanta Daily World, Chicago Defender, Los Angeles Sentinel, Los Angeles Times, New York Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, The Atlanta Constitution, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times with Index, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post; Full-text; Dates vary with each newspaper.
New York Times Historical Newspaper & Index This link opens in a new window
Full-text (with illustrations and graphics) since 1851, with additional years added as they are digitized.
Full-text; 1851-2019 (full-text); 1851-2019 (index)
Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019 This link opens in a new window
Complete archive in facsimile of the Times of London newspaper covering general news, culture, fine arts, politics, history, and more.
Full-text; 1785 - 2012

Journal Articles

These databases are useful for finding articles, essays, and book chapters on language, literature, linguistics, and related topics. If the full text is not in the database you are searching, click the Locate It button or use the Journal Titles search in the red box on the main page to determine whether we have access to a journal. If we do not have access to a journal article or book, you can request it from our Interlibrary Loan service.

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive scholarly, multi-disciplinary resource containing a large number of peer-reviewed journals.
This is good place to start for most topics, including all sciences, religion, law, history, psychology, political science, criminal justice, literature, current events, sociology and communications.
Abstracts and full-text for most journal articles; Varies by title many from 1980s-present
America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive database of journal articles and book reviews for United States and Canada history.
Historical coverage from America's Pre-Columbian period to the present.
Abstracts of articles, dissertations, and reviews of historical literature; 1954 - present
ATLA Religion Database This link opens in a new window
Combines the premier index to journal articles, book reviews, and collections of essays in all fields of religion with an online collection of major religion and theology journals.
Citations, abstracts, and full-text (1949 - present); 1924 - present
Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Access journal articles, dissertations, and reviews of historical literature on world history, from 1450 to the present.
Excludes the U.S. and Canada, which are included in the American History & Life database.; Abstracts; 1969 - present
Humanities & Social Sciences Index Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Indexes journals in the general humanities.
Citations and abstracts; 1907-1984
Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
Indexes journals, books and other published sources within the general humanities.
Citations, abstracts, and full-text; 1990s - present; some coverage back to 1960s
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archive of scholarly journal literature
Interdisciplinary journal archive of titles in the arts, botany, business, ecology, general science, history, mathematics, and the social sciences. Many journal runs go back to the 19th century and before with subject coverage going back to the medieval period and up to within 3-5 years of current (depending on journal title).; Full-text and full image; Varies by title; current within 3-5 years; Coverage is constantly expanding with the addition of more scholarly journals to the collection. Moving wall publishes to within 3-5 years of most titles that are still in publication.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Biographies, overviews, and critical analysis of literary topics, authors, and their works
Biographical sketches of over 130,000 authors and critical articles on over 2,000 authors from all times and places, and on their works. Includes essays from reference works, journals, and books. Content covers numerous centuries, mainly 20th and some 19th.; Full-text
MLA International Bibliography with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Literature, language, and folklore from all regions of the world from the late Middle Ages to the present.
Covers books, articles, and dissertations. Best place to start for language and literature research.
Philosopher's Index This link opens in a new window
Covers scholarly research in all major fields of philosophy
Features author-written abstracts covering scholarly research published in journals and books, including contributions to anthologies and book reviews.; Citations and abstracts; 1940 - present
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Resource of journals in humanities, social sciences, & mathematics
Coverage of journal articles in the fields of literature and criticism, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and economics.; Full-text; 1993 - present
Reader's Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) This link opens in a new window
Index of popular general-interest periodicals published in the United States and Canada.
Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
Index of core disciplines in women's studies
Feminist research in the areas of sociology, history, political science & economy, public policy, international relations, arts & humanities, business and education; Indexing and abstracting with some full-text; 1972 - present

Related Research Guides

Electronic Encyclopedias

These are places to quickly check on the meaning of a literary term or for biographical information about an author.

The Dictionary of the History of Ideas,
Earlier edition of The New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, but this one is online.

Cambridge Companions Online This link opens in a new window
Accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods. Specially commissioned essays enhance the content of over 500 Companions titles, covering literature, philosophy, classics, religion, cultural studies and music.
eBook Collection (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Collection of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
Full-text; 1990s - present
Grove Art Online This link opens in a new window
Articles on every aspect of the visual arts (painting, sculpture, graphic arts, architecture, decorative arts and photography) from prehistory to the present.
Content expanded from print sources of Grove Art Online and Oxford Art Reference. Originally published in 1996 and updated quarterly.
Grove Music Online This link opens in a new window
Authoritative reference resource for all genres of music (best for classical and jazz).
Includes the full-texts of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Dictionary of Opera, and The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, with updates and emendations. Entries from the Grove Dictionary of American Music are also being added. ; Full-text articles with extensive bibliographies and lists of composers' works.; 2001, with periodic updates
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Biographies, overviews, and critical analysis of literary topics, authors, and their works
Biographical sketches of over 130,000 authors and critical articles on over 2,000 authors from all times and places, and on their works. Includes essays from reference works, journals, and books. Content covers numerous centuries, mainly 20th and some 19th.; Full-text
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Core collection of titles from the Oxford series of reference books
Includes over 120 reference books covering art, the sciences, literature, history, law, the performing arts, religion, computing, economics and business, general reference, and much more.; Full-text; Varies by title, 2002 - present

Boatwright Memorial Library

MLA 500U: Research Methods: Research Tools in the Humanities

Primary Sources

Journal Articles

Related Research Guides

Electronic Encyclopedias