Research Guides: AFST 100: Language, Race, and White Supremacy: Finding Articles and More

What is a Database?

What is a database?

The library databases contain journal articles and other scholarly information, as well as magazines, newspaper articles, and non-scholarly info.

Sometimes a database will contain the entire journal article, and sometimes it will only contain an abstract. Databases are searchable by subject, keyword, author, and more. They can be seen as the tool that you use to search and access scholarly publications, such as peer-reviewed journal articles.

Finding Journal Articles

Best Bets

Swem Library databases are organized by category, usually by discipline and type. Try a Linguistics-focused database like Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) or a database from other fields related to your topic like English, Africana Studies, or Sociology. You might also find valuable information in our Multidisciplinary databases - like Academic Search Complete, also below.

Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts This link opens in a new window
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Language and linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Citations to journal articles, books, and dissertations. Coverage: 1973- present.
Linguistics Abstracts Online This link opens in a new window
Linguistics Abstracts Online includes more than 800 journals dating back to 1911 and thousands of records with subject headings created by linguistics experts. Materials encompass the broad spectrum of linguistics and language study, including subject areas such as applied linguistics, communication, computational linguistics, deaf studies and education, English language teaching, fluency disorders, language and cultures, phonetics and phonology, psychology, speech pathology, theoretical linguistics and many more.
AnthroSource This link opens in a new window
All aspects of anthropology. Journal articles, books, bulletins, and newsletters from the American Anthropological Association. Coverage: varies by title.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
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Multidisciplinary database of journal articles (including peer reviewed), books, book chapters, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Coverage: 1887-present.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Multidisciplinary full-text journal articles from 1,500 major journals. Please note: In many cases, JSTOR does not include the most recent 3 to 5 years of these journals. Please use other databases to retrieve recent articles, especially for current events topics. Coverage: Varies by title. Access is available to 2007+ alumni; requires W&M userid and password.
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google Scholar is a freely accessible web search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.
Black Studies Center (1893-current) This link opens in a new window
Black Studies Center consists of scholarly journals, commissioned overview essays by top scholars in Black Studies, historic indexes, and the full-text of The Chicago Defender newspaper from 1910-1975.
MLA International Bibliography with Full-Text This link opens in a new window
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Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the MLA International Bibliography is the definitive index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film, covering scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
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Offers comprehensive coverage of sociology, encompassing all sub-disciplines and closely related areas of study. These include abortion, criminology & criminal justice, demography, ethnic & racial studies, gender studies, marriage & family, political sociology, religion, rural & urban sociology, social development, social psychology, social structure, social work, socio-cultural anthropology, sociological history, sociological research, sociological theory, substance abuse & other addictions, violence and many others.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Citations to journal articles, books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers. Some cited references are included. Coverage: 1952-present.
Ethnologue: Languages of the World This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive reference work containing information on 7,097 known living languages. Languages are listed alphabetically by primary name under the country of the main population. Information includes alternate names, dialects, number of speakers, multilingualism, and other demographic and sociolinguistic information, if known. Reports and maps are included with our subscription.

Constructing a good search

Not finding anything?

Try a different database! You can find our full list of library databases on Swem's website.
Try different search terms! Not finding anything for "socioeconomic status"? Try a synonym like "income" or a related concept like "income disparity".
Ask a librarian! You can make a research appointment for some one-on-one help, chat with us when the research desk is open, drop on by for a visit, or even shoot us an email. We love to help!

AFST 100: Language, Race, and White Supremacy

Accessing Articles

How to Access Articles