Research Guides: HIST 181: African History to 1800 (Fall 2024): Finding Articles

Articles: Starting Points

Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window
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Covers all aspects of world history (excluding the US and Canada) since 1450. Includes journal articles, books, reviews, conference proceedings, dissertations, etc. published after 1954. About 250 History journals in this database are not findable in EBSCO's Academic Search database, making this the go-to database for finding world history articles.
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.
Index Islamicus This link opens in a new window
Islamic subjects, including the Middle East, the Muslim areas of Asia and Africa, and Muslim minorities elsewhere in the world. Citations to journal articles, books, conference proceedings, and book reviews. Coverage: 1906-present.
International Medieval Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Interdisciplinary coverage of the Middle Ages (300-1500). Citations to journal articles and some books published in Europe, North America, Australasia, Brazil, Japan, and South Africa. Coverage: 1967-present.

Keep it simple!
- Only use a few search terms at once, connected by AND
- Example: Africa AND Islam
Use nouns (people/place/thing/film) as search terms in the search
- Example: Impact of the crusades on the spread of Christianity in Africa?
  - Africa AND crusades AND Christianity
Limit to books and ebooks.
Use Boolean!
- islam* AND "north africa" and History
When you find an article on your topic, open it and pay attention to the subject terms!
- There is a special subject headings for Islamic law -- Africa, North -- History -- To 1500
Limit to peer reviewed materials
- Avoids pop-press articles
Do NOT limit to full text
- Even if a database thinks we don't own an article, we frequently do have access through another databases. Use the "find at W&M" button to check.
- OR use ILL order a PDF at no cost -- we'll email it to your @wm address.