Library Databases at Northfield Mount Hermon

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NMH Library Databases

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What are library databases?

Library databases are online repositories of magazine, newspaper, scholarly journal, and encyclopedia articles. They may also contain sound and video clips and primary documents.

The library databases are credible resources for research and should be distinguished from articles retrieved from websites found on the "free web". Articles are written by scholars and journalists and are made available through reputable publishers.

Best for Current News Articles

- InfoTrac OneFile (Gale) Articles from general magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Also includes transcripts and sound files of radio broadcasts. 1980 to present.

- ProQuest Includes thousands of newspapers and magazines, many updated daily. 1986 to present. Hint: Begin with an Advanced Search and select one database to search. Platinum Periodicals is a good choice. Hint: Check off 'Full Text Articles Only." Includes the New York Times, from 1980 through current.

- Student Research Center (EbscoHost) contains full text for more than 500 magazines, 360 full text reference books, 85,670 biographies, 105,786 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of 341,655 photos, maps & flags, color PDFs and expanded full text backfiles (back to 1975) for key magazines.

Best for Background Infomation

- Encyclopaedia Britannica Online The complete encyclopedia, as well the World Atlas, a timeline and Britannica's annual 'Year in Review.'

- Biography Resource Center Biographies of people from all over the world and throughout history.

- CQ Researcher Great for researching issues in the news. Entries include an historical description, a timeline of related events and a pro/con presentation of each issue.

- Gale Virtual Reference Library A collection of key reference books on a variety of topics (biography, history, literature) for student and general research.

- Opposing Viewpoints (Gale) Essays, statistics, articles, and primary documents supporting opposing sides of topics. Great resource for debate research.

Best for Controversial Topics

- CQ Researcher Great for researching issues in the news. Entries include an historical description, a timeline of related events and a pro/con presentation of each issue.

- Opposing Viewpoints (Gale) Essays, statistics, articles, and primary documents supporting opposing sides of topics. Great resource for debate research.

Best for Scholarly Journal and Historical News Articles

- JStor Scholarly journal storage. Good for researching peer-reviewed articles that were published from 1 to 5 years ago.

- ProQuest Historical Newspapers Includes the New York Times, 1851-2004, the Atlanta Constitution, 1868-1939, The Chicago Defender, 1905-1975, and the Hartford Courant, 1851-2004. Hint: Select a date or range of dates for the most relevant results.

Databases by Subject

- General and Interdisciplinary

Biography Resource Center Biographies of people from all over the world and throughout history.

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online The complete encyclopedia, as well the World Atlas, a timeline and Britannica's annual 'Year in Review.'

Gale Virtual Reference Library A collection of key reference books on a variety of topics (biography, history, literature) for student and general research.

InfoTrac General OneFile (Gale) Articles from general magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals. Also includes transcripts and sound files of radio broadcasts. 1980 to present.

JStor Scholarly journal storage. Good for researching peer-reviewed articles that were published from 1 to 5 years ago.

New York Times, 1995 – Current date (Gale)

New York Times, 1980 - Current date (ProQuest)

Oxford English Dictionary Online The world's most authoritative English dictionary, the OED is the place to go for word origins and history. Each entry contains pronunciation and a quotation documenting its first use.

Oxford Reference Online Over 100 online reference books covering a wide variety of subjects.

ProQuest Includes thousands of newspapers and magazines, many updated daily. 1986 to present. Hint: Begin with an Advanced Search and select one database to search. Platinum Periodicals is a good choice. Hint: Check off 'Full Text Articles Only." Includes the New York Times, from 1980 through current.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers Includes the New York Times, 1851-2004, the Atlanta Constitution, 1868-1939, The Chicago Defender, 1905-1975, and the Hartford Courant, 1851-2004. Hint: Select a date or range of dates for the most relevant results.

Student Research Center (EbscoHost) contains full text for more than 500 magazines, 360 full text reference books, 85,670 biographies, 105,786 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of 341,655 photos, maps & flags, color PDFs and expanded full text backfiles (back to 1975) for key magazines.

Reader's Guide Retro (WilsonWeb) Online version of the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature. 1890-1982.

- Art and Music

African American Song Documents the history of African American music in an online music listening service.

ArtStor Images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and teaching. Turn off your browser's pop-up blocker for this site.

Classical Music Library Classical music recordings for listening and learning.

Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries Encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions. Includes sound recordings, liner notes and images.

- History and Social Sciences

Annals of American History Online Primary documents from U.S. history: Speeches, memoirs, poems, historical accounts, and multimedia.

CQ Encyclopedia of American Government Concise, up-to-date explanations of the who, how, and why of American democracy.

CQ Researcher Great for researching issues in the news. Entries include an historical description, a timeline of related events and a pro/con presentation of each issue.

Educator's Reference Complete (Gale)

General Business File (Gale)

History Reference Center (EbscoHost)

LexisNexis Best for researching laws and legislation. 1985 to present.

Massachusetts History Online (Gale)

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale) Essays, statistics, articles, and primary documents supporting opposing sides of topics. Great resource for debate research.

World Data Analyst Online Up-to-date information for countries. Create charts comparing statistics between countries or over time.

- Literature

Contemporary Literary Criticism (Gale)

Literary Reference Center (EbscoHost)

- Science and Health

Health Reference Center Academic (Gale)

Science Reference Center (EbscoHost)

Scientific American Archive Online The archive currently contains the entire editorial contents of Scientific American Magazine, from January 1993 through to the present.

Teen Health & Wellness Topics include diseases, drugs, alcohol, nutrition, fitness, mental health, diversity, family life, and more.

- World Languages

Enciclopedia Universal en Espanol Spanish language edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.

LexisNexis Articles Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch and Portuguese publicaitons.