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ASL 4750/ LING 7750: Contemporary Deaf Studies

Research guide for students in Chris Krentz's Spring 2022 ASL4750/LING7750 class

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. If you are accessing materials from off Grounds, you will be prompted to sign in with NetBadge when using these resources. See the tab on the left menu called Tools for Access for more tips on accessing resources from off campus. 

The best way to connect to the library's databases is through the research portal or through this guide. This page provides a  list of recommended databases, ebooks, streaming media, and online resources for your research assignment. There are many more resources available that might be useful.

If you would like research help, I am available for meetings either in person or virtually using Zoom. You can schedule an appointment with me by clicking the button in my information box to the left, by selecting a day/time on my Make an Appointment page, or by contacting me directly at slb4kt@virginia.edu. Need help right away? Please contact a librarian using one of our Ask a Librarian options. ​

Disability in the Modern World

Disability in the Modern World: History of a Social Movement is a database of primary sources, supporting materials, and archives. It also includes over 125 hours of video. The content is essential for teaching and research—not only in the growing disciplines of disability history and disability studies, but also in history, media, the arts, political science, education, and other areas where the contributions of the disability community are typically overlooked. Try searching for deaf or deafness and then narrowing using keywords of interest. 
Having trouble getting content from the database? Try hitting the ESC key three times in rapid succession - if that doesn't help, contact Sherri for further assistance. 

Databases for finding Articles about Deaf Studies or Sign Language

Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts indexes journal articles on all aspects of the nature and use of language. Updated monthly. Includes journals like American Annals of the Deaf, Deafness and Education InternationalSign Language Studies, Sign Language & Linguistics, and more.  


Ethnologue: Languages of the World
is a comprehensive reference work cataloging all of the world’s known living languages. Since 1951, the Ethnologue has been an active research project involving hundreds of linguists and other researchers around the world. It is widely regarded to be the most comprehensive source of information of its kind. Ethnologue lists 157 languages under the language family sign language
 

Academic Search Complete is a large general database of articles from scholarly journals, magazines, and newspapers on many topics. Also includes reference books, biographies, speeches, images, and other primary source documents. 

America History & Life includes articles about the history of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present, while Historical Abstracts indexes articles about the history of the world from 1450 to the present, not including the U.S. and Canada. 


APA PsycINFO
 covers journal articles in more than 30 languages and books in English about psychology and related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, and education. 

 

Communication & Mass Media Complete provides coverage of journals in communication, mass media, and other closely-related fields of study. It provides indexing and abstracts for more than 570 journals, and selected coverage of nearly 200 more, for a combined coverage of more than 770 titles. Furthermore, this database includes full text for over 450 journals.


Education Research Complete is a large database covering journal articles, conference papers and some books on all aspects of education including multilingual education, health education, testing, curriculum, administration, policy, funding, and related social issues. Includes the Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education, American Annals of the Deaf, Deafness & Education International, and the Journal of The American Deafness & Rehabilitation Association


Legal Collection
 is a large collection (over 250) of law journals plus some case studies and documents. 


​SocINDEX with Full Text offers comprehensive coverage of sociology, encompassing all sub-disciplines and closely related areas of study. These include abortion, criminology and criminal justice, demography, ethnic and racial studies, gender studies, marriage and family, political sociology, religion, rural and urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social structure, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, sociological history, sociological research, sociological theory, substance abuse and other addictions, violence and many others.

Databases for Finding Articles about Deaf Culture, Deaf People, and the Arts

The MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) indexes the broadest range of resources about literature in all languages, as well as film, television, and popular culture, including over 4,000 journals as well as books and dissertations.
 
Art Full Text (1929-present) includes articles and art reproductions in all arts media from selected periodicals. Art Index Retro covers 1929-1984 and Art Index Full Text 1984-present. Abstracts are included from 1994 on; full-text of articles from some journals from 1997 on.
 
Film & Television Literature Index finds 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.
 
HistoryMakers Digital Archive includes nearly 150,000 stories from life oral history interviews with 2,700 historically significant African Americans including politicians, religious leaders, athletes, musicians, civil rights activists, soldiers, and many more.
 
Performing Arts Periodicals Database - Lists articles from scholarly and popular periodicals covering dance, film, television, theater, opera, stagecraft, broadcast arts, storytelling and more. Some journals include full text.This link opens in a new window

Music Periodicals Database -  Find 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.
 
Humanities International Complete indexes over 2000 journals as well as books and other publications. Topics covered include archaeology, art, dance, drama, ethnic and women's studies, history, literature, music, philosophy, poetry, religion. 

JSTOR 
includes older issues of scholarly journals, from the start to 3-5 years ago.
 
Project Muse provides full-text searching of recent articles from major scholarly journals, including roughly 120 journals about literature. Like JSTOR, Project Muse is not as comprehensive as the MLAIB, but offers the advantages of full-text searching and instant access to PDFs.

Finding items using Virgo

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. To find online content in the catalog, use Format limiters like EBook, Online Video, Streaming Video, or Online to limit your catalog search results. 

Example subject terms:

  • American Sign Language 
  • Cross-Cultural Comparison
  • Deaf Authors
  • Deaf Criminals 
  • Deaf Culture - United States (or another country) 
  • Deaf Education - United States (or another country) 
  • Deaf in Literature
  • Deaf - Means of Communication
  • Deaf - Psychology
  • Deaf - Social Conditions 
  • Deaf - United States - Social Conditions 
  • Deaf Women 
  • Deafness
  • Prisoners with disabilities 
  • Sign Language 

Example Print Books & E-Books of Interest

Below are just a few of many examples of print books and ebooks available that discuss deaf culture and deaf studies. Try using the subject term recommendations above or keywords related to your topic of interest to get started searching in Virgo for relevant materials.