Research Guides: ENGL 1100: The Person You Mean to Be

Learning about a topic

Getting started with your research

The library's collection includes books, articles, films, and a wide range of other publication types. Which publication type is best for your research will depend on the question you want to investigate.

Books can be terrific for providing depth and context to your question. If your topic unfamiliar to you? The background information you find in a good, relevant book may be ideal for your needs. To find books, use the "One Search" search box on the library home page. Once you have done an initial search, you can limit your results to only "books/ebooks" or to "physical books from the catalog," whichever you prefer.

Articles, whether from scholarly, newspaper, or popular publications, can be found in either "One Search" or in the library databases.

This page will walk you through the process of setting up a successful search for books or articles; it will also recommend "best bet" databases based on your topic.

Choosing a database

What database works best for your topic?

Ask yourself what types of professionals are writing about your topic. For example, is your topic relevant to educators? If so, an education database might contain helpful articles.

With some topics you may want to search more than one body of literature. For example, if you were writing about environmental justice on college campuses, you may want to consult the environmental sciences literature AND the education literature.

Below are some promising databases for getting started based on the broad area of your topic. See which databases are most relevant to your research question. Are you unfamiliar with databases and want to learn more about what they are and what they contain? Here's a quick video.

Education themes

Education literature covers a broad area, from early childhood to higher education. Education themes are generally best searched in education databases. Two of the best are listed below. You will find coverage of topics like:

transformative learning
social justice
service learning
institutional racism
counseling

Education Research Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides a bibliographic and full-text database covering scholarly research and information in all fields of education, from early childhood to higher education. Topics include: educational specialty fields, curriculum instruction, administration, policy, funding, and related social issues.
ERIC via ProQuest This link opens in a new window
The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) indexes more than 1.3 million bibliographic records in education research and resources. Materials include journal articles (mostly peer-reviewed), books, research syntheses, conference papers, technical reports, policy papers, and more. Selectively full-text for the document (non-journal) portion of the database.

Social Science themes

Many of the themes found in The Person You Mean to Be center on the individual's role in society and thus are well-represented in social science databases. Below are three large and popular social science databases. Examples of topics covered include:

empathy and compassion
social justice
racism and racial injustice
hate groups

SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
An extensive index of bibliographic information for sociology research. Provides records from leading sociology journals. Topics include: gender studies, criminal justice, social psychology, racial studies, religion and social work.
PsycINFO This link opens in a new window
From the American Psychological Association (APA). Includes blend of abstracts, indexes and links to full-text of scholarly journal articles, book chapters, books, and dissertations. Topics include: applied psychology, communication systems, developmental psychology, educational psychology, experimental human and animal psychology, personality, psychological and physical disorders, physiological psychology and neuroscience, professional personnel and issues, psychometrics and statistics, social psychology, social processes and issues, sports psychology and leisure and treatment and prevention. Ninety-seven percent of the covered material is peer-reviewed. Journal coverage includes international material selected from periodicals in multiple languages. Content spans 1597 – present. Click here for a guide to this database.
ASSIA: Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts: Indexing and abstracting tool covering health, social services, psychology, sociology, economics, politics, race relations and education. Includes the United States and U.K.

Business and Management themes

Business literature can feature case studies, content on people management, articles about organizational policies, and much more. Consider searching the business databases if your topic touches on:

business ethics
human resources
implicit bias
advertising

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text, indexing, and abstracts for scholarly business journals, financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, conference proceedings, case studies, industry reports, and SWOT analyses. Topics include: marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance, and economics. Content spans 1886 – Present.
ABI/INFORM This link opens in a new window
In-depth coverage of business and management publications. Includes journals, dissertations, working papers, key business newspapers, trade publications, country-and industry-focused reports and data. Topics covered include business conditions, trends, corporate strategies and tactics, management techniques, competitive and product information.

Science and Technology themes

Applied Science & Technology Full Text This link opens in a new window
Provides indexing, abstracts, and articles for core journals on technology and applied sciences. Topics include: biomedical engineering, engineering, and construction management among others. Includes full text for some titles. Content spans 1983 – Present.
Ecology Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Index of scholarship on how organisms of all kinds, including microbes, plants, and animals, interact with their environments and with other organisms. It also contains papers on evolutionary biology, economics, and systems analysis as they relate to ecosystems or the environment. Part of Agricultural and Environmental Science Database (ProQuest). To access content check box below the search bar for “Ecological Abstracts content only.”
Scopus This link opens in a new window
An extensive, fully searchable, index of abstracts and bibliographic citations from earth sciences, social sciences, technology, medicine, and health. Provides tools to track, analyze, and visualize the impacts of research.