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I. NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASES
Powerful tools for quickly identifying a broad listing of publications (other than periodical articles and essays in collections) for virtually any topic, for locating an imperfectly formed citation, for identifying resources not held at Columbia, and many other tasks. Together, these databases provide access to virtually all of the online catalog records for all the research libraries in this country. (See the LWeb Database Catalogs list for links to other countries' union catalogs or union catalogs for particular historic periods.)
- WorldCat (OCLC)
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?AMS7418
A powerful keyword search capacity often makes this the easiest place to go first in your search.
- European Library
http://search.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/en/index.html
Access to the combined resources of the national libraries of Europe
II. DISSERTATIONS
(For non-Anglo-American theses, see also WorldCatDissertations, a subset of the WorldCat database, accessible as a separate from from the database menu inside WorldCat)
- Digital Dissertations
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?AQP0595
A comprehensive listing of all U.S. dissertations (and some foreign dissertations and masters essays) from 1861 to the present. Abstracts available from 1980 onward and free downloadable full text is available for most titles since 1997.
- Index to Theses, British
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/3091395.html
A searchable index of all theses accepted by British and Irish universities since 1716, with abstracts for titles since 1970. Bear in mind that access to titles not held by U.S. libraries may take some time.
III. PERIODICAL INDEXES
Use these to find citations to articles in periodicals and essays in collections. Resist the temptation to use only those resources that linke directly to full text, as much key material is still accessible through citations only.
IV. ARCHIVAL FINDING TOOLS
The most important are listed below, but many others, including collections from individual academic publishers and university presses can be accessed by using the "Resource Type" list on the Find Databases interface and seleting "Journal Collections."
- Archive Finder
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?AMN4483
Index to archival guides in U.S. and U.K. repositories and a directory of those repositories
- ArchiveGrid
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?clio5801362
Archival finding aids and citations for archival collections
- An important supplement to these tools is WorldCat -- limit search by "Archival Materials"
V. FULL-TEXT JOURNAL COLLECTIONS
The most important are listed below, but many others, including collections from individual academic publishers and university presses can be accessed by using the "Resource Type" list on the Find Databases interface and seleting "Journal Collections."
- JSTOR
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/1959655.html
The single richest collection of full-text scholarly articles (from more than 600 scholarly journals) with coverage back to the earliest issue but not, typically, for the last five years.
- Periodicals Archive Online
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?APE1812
A good supplement to JSTOR, with retrospective coverage of many more scholarly journals.
- Project Muse
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/1955291.html
Full-text articles from more than 250 scholarly journals, generally from the end of the 1990s or later. Very often you can find more recent portions of journals covered retrospectively in JSTOR and PCI.
- Proquest Direct
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/2134941.html
While listed on the Libraries' website as a periodical index, Proquest offers full text searchability of a very large collection of scholarly, professional, and popular journals and magazine literature. An option button allows you to limit your search to Scholarly Content only.
- Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/4815156.html
Full text, citations, and abstracts from scholarly and popular periodicals in many disciplines. Use the "Peer-Reviewed" option button to limit to scholarly content.
IMPORTANT NOTE: OmniFile is not itself a choice on the database menu, but must be selected after you enter one of the Wilson databases, by checking the "OmniFile Full Text Mega" option in the "Database Selection Area" at the top of the screen. (The link above actually takes you to the user screen for "Social Science Full Text."
VI. FULL-TEXT MONOGRAPH COLLECTIONS
Only the key interdisciplinary and humanities and history collections are listed below. For a fuller list, use the Resource Type list on the Find Databases and select "Book Collections."
- NetLibrary
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/2426801.html
More than 14,000 books from university and commercial publishers, with its stongest coverage in the mid to late 1990s and very beginning of the 2000s.
- Ebrary
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?clio5325422
More than 21,000 books from scholarly and commercial publishers, with strongest coverage from the end of the 1990s up to 2005.
- Oxford Scholarship Online
http://www.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/cul/resolve?clio5267739
A relatively small but excellently designed collection of recent Oxford University Press titles in the fields of economics and finance, philosophy, political science, and religion.
- History E-Book Project
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/eresources/databases/3342782.html
Designed as a collection of interrelated and interlinked online scholarly books in the field of history that will consist of a backlist (containing previously published works of recognized significance) and a frontlist (containing new works first published in electronic format). Currently about 750 titles.
VII. NEWS COLLECTIONS
Only the two most important interdisciplinary collections (nicely supplemented by the news resources in Proquest) are listed here. For a fuller list, use the Resource Type list on the Find Databases and select "News and Current Events."
VIII. FULL-TEXT PRIMARY SOURCE COLLECTIONS
Harder to find through out through our Database Search page, though many can be found on the diverse list produced by selected "Full-text Resources." For two other listings, see the following.
IX. ONLINE "REFERENCE BOOKS"
Valuable online "look-up" tools, available in four overlapping Format/Genre groups from the Libraries website's Find Databases interface under Biographies, Dictionaries, Directories, and Encyclopedias. The following multiple-resource refence sites are of broad interest for almost any kind question, the first two providing more dictionary and encyclopedic help, the other two providing access to lengthier, more discursive introductions to topics and issues.
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