AMST 3001: Theories and Methods of American Studies
Subject Librarian
Subject Librarian
General research tips
- Know the difference between scholarly and non-scholarly sources, and when it's appropriate to use them. By using academic library resources and search tools, you are focusing your research on scholarly sources. Books from academic or university presses can be safely considered scholarly and authoritative. When looking for journal articles, select the option to limit your search to "peer-reviewed" or "refereed" journals, when available. Peer-reviewed articles, like books from academic presses, undergo a rigorous review by other experts in the field before they are approved for publication. This is the highest standard for published scholarship.
- Choose the right keywords for your search. If your topic is abolition, consider searching not only on that term, but on related terms and concepts (emancipation, anti-slavery, Civil War, etc.) Each term will lead to results that provide a different perspective on the topic.
- Fine-tune your search using
- Filters or facets: allow you to narrow your results by source, subject, date range, etc.
- Wildcards: in many search engines, the asterisk is a truncation symbol that will match all possible endings for a word stem; i.e. histor* will match history, historical, historicism, historiography, etc.
- Booleans: combine search terms using AND (gender AND identity), OR (black OR african american) and NOT (shanty NOT sea).
- When you find a good source, use it to find other good sources. Use the subject terms and keywords associated with an item to find other items on the same topic. Scholarly books and articles will have bibliographies and footnotes that you can mine for additional resources.
- If you're not finding what you need, ask a librarian for help. The library staff may be able to suggest additional sources that are directly related to your paper topic.
Finding library materials
Virgo, the UVA Library’s primary search tool, contains catalog records for books, print journals, DVDs, maps, and digitized materials, as well as links to online articles from our rich array of subscription journals. You can search catalog materials and articles together, or view those results separately, using the "facets" provided to limit your results by author, format, publication period, and more.
Sample searches:
- Choose "Catalog only" search
- Search for american cultural studies, then select eBook from the Format facet
- Search for slave tourism, then select Last 3 years from the Publication Era facet
- Search for "the oriental obscene", then look at the record for that title and use the subject headings to locate more books on related topics
Research using library databases
The UVA Library subscribes to hundreds of databases that contain scholarly resources not available on the free web. Access to most of these databases is restricted to current members of the UVA community; when you are off Grounds, you will be prompted to sign in with NetBadge when using these resources (see the Off-Grounds Access link for more information).
The best way to connect to the library's databases is through the research portal. This page provides a brief list of the most commonly used databases, as well as links to a complete A-Z listing of all our databases. In addition, library subject specialists have created research guides for academic department here at UVA. Subject research guides list the most important databases for conducting research in that discipline. American Studies draws upon many other disciplines; Other guides that may be useful for this course include:
- English Language & Literature
- History
- Sociology
- Women, Gender, and Sexuality Resources
- Media Studies
While many databases contain full-text articles, others are indexes that provide citations for articles, but not the articles themselves. If you see an article citation without the full text, look for the Find@UVA link or button, which will search all of our online content for a copy of the article. Some articles aren't available online but are available in print journals that can be found through VIRGO. If the library doesn't have the article either online or in print, you can request a copy through Interlibrary Loan.
Sources for scholarly journal articles (interdisciplinary)
- Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new windowLarge general database of articles from scholarly and popular journals and a few newspapers on many topics.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowContains back issues (usually 3-5 years old or older) of over 1,400 significant scholarly journals across all subject areas. Like Project Muse (below), JSTOR provides full-text searching and instant access to articles in PDF format.
- Project MUSE This link opens in a new windowProvides full-text searching of recent articles from over 500 major scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences. Articles are immediately available in HTML or PDF.
- American QuarterlyAvailable through Project Muse, American Quarterly is considered the premier journal in American Studies. Interdisciplinary in scope, it seeks "to make available the broad range of emergent approaches to American Studies."
BrowZine
Sources for scholarly journal articles (discipline-specific)
- America: History & Life (1964-present) This link opens in a new windowCovers the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to present with records from 2,000 English-language journals published worldwide. Includes book reviews.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowLists articles from scholarly and popular periodicals covering dance, film, television, theater, opera, stagecraft, broadcast arts, storytelling and more. Some journals include full text.
- Film & Television Literature Index This link opens in a new windowFinds reviews of films and articles on theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, and technical aspects of both film and television in the US and internationally.
- Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowFind articles from over 300 international music periodicals from over 20 countries and view full text of articles from some 80 journals. Also indexes feature music articles, book reviews, and obituaries appearing in the New York Times and the Washington Post.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new windowLarge database of journal articles about popular media. Includes biographical information on frequently cited authors.
Evaluating your sources
Evaluate books:
- By press
- University presses are usually best for humanities & social science research
- There are many other reputable academic presses, but some of variable quality
- The fact that UVA owns a particular book is usually a good measure of its quality
- By reviews
- Academic Search Complete
- Publisher's website
- By number of citations
- By author reputation
- Academic affiliation
- Other works published
- Web site/CV
Evaluate articles
- By number of citations
- By journal reputation
- By length
- By author reputation
- By content
Citation resources
- ZoteroCitation management tool that allows you to collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Downloads to your web browser on your personal computer. Zotero is especially good for saving and linking to digital objects and web pages.
- The MLA Style Center - Using MLA FormatThe official website on MLA style. This site will show you how to document sources, set up your paper, and improve your writing.
- MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly PublishingProvides detailed instructions for using the MLA style and citation format. Available in print only.
- Chicago Manual of StyleFull-text of the 17th (and 16th edition). Click on Search button upper right of screen for links to Table of Contents and full-text of each chapter in the 17th edition. Note that you can also access the previous edition by clicking on the "Go to 16th Ed" link under the Go To box on the first search results page
- Purdue OWL: Research and Citation ResourcesThe Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University provides extensive online instructional materials about all aspects of academic research and writing. The Citation Resources page provides convenient introductions to the APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles.