Research Databases A to Z

A to Z Maps Online: A to Z Maps Online contains 4,000+ maps including political, physical, outline, population, precipitation, climate, biblical, and other thematic maps.

Academic Search Premier (EBSCO): This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than 4,600 academic journals and magazines. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link 

Access Newspaper Archives: Search the tens of thousands of newspaper pages available through Access Newspaper Archives to locate information on famous world events. Off campus link

Alt Health Watch (EBSCO): This database focuses on the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated approaches to health care and wellness. It includes the full text articles for more than 180 international journals and reports and hundreds of pamphlets, booklets, special reports, original research and book excerpts.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

American Decades (Gale Virtual Library)Cross-disciplinary source for general researchers who need to document and analyze periods of contemporary (1900 to 2000) American social history.

American Eras (Gale Virtual Library) Includes essays on events, publications, lifestyles and individuals important to particular eras in U.S. history.

American National Biography: Find biographical sketches of more than 17,400 men and women whose lives have shaped the nation using American National Biography.

Ancient Greece and Rome (Gale Virtual Reference): Covers an extensive array of topics on ancient Greece and Rome including daily life, art and architecture, philosophy, science, religion, statesmen, military leaders, emperors, and more.

Annals of American History: Annals of American History contains primary documents in American history, including historical accounts, speeches, memoirs, poems, editorials, landmark court decisions, video and audio clips, and cultural criticism.

Art and Humanities through the Eras (Gale Virtual Reference): Profiling milestones and movements in the arts, literature, music and religion from a specific period, each volume in this set helps researchers understand the various disciplines of the humanities in relation to each other, as well as to history and culture. 

Atomic LearningOnline how-to training tutorials on software applications from Adobe to Microsoft Office.
 

Beacham's Guide to the Endangered Species of North America (Gale Virtual Reference)Presents extensive data on the habitats and ecosystems of more than 1,200 species identified as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.

Bloom's Literary Reference Online: Access the scholarly content of the Facts on File’s print literature collection, hundreds of Harold Bloom’s essays examining the lives and works of great writers throughout history and the world, and thousands of critical articles published by noted scholars.

Business Source Premier (EBSCO): Business Source Premier is the industry’s most used business research database, providing full text for more than 2,300 journals, company profiles, and industry information and news. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.   Off campus link

Consumer Health Complete (EBSCO): Consumer Health Complete provides content covering all areas of health and wellness from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated medicine. In addition, Consumer Health Complete includes the Clinical Reference System and the Lexi-PAL Drug Guide, which provides access to up-to-date, concise and clinically relevant drug monographs. The database is updated on a weekly basis.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Countries and Their Cultures (Gale Virtual Reference): Presents the cultural similarities within a country that set it apart from others by examining over 200 countries to document the myriad ways in which culture defines and separates the nations of the world as much as geographical borders do. Surveys each country's shared values, behaviors and cultural variations from foods and rituals to pastimes and arts, using a standard entry format for easy comparison. Provides illustrations, photographs and maps.

CQ Researcher: CQ research provides in-depth reports on the most current and controversial issues of the day. Each report covers a particular topic in depth and includes an issue overview, timeline, and pro/con analysis.

Dictionary of Symbols (Gale Virtual Reference): A dictionary of nearly 200 symbols found in literature. Focuses on literary references rather than universal psychological archetypes and myths. Entries range from the Bible and classical authors to modern-day writing, taking in American and European literatures.

 

EBSCOhost Online Research Databases: The EBSCOhost suite of databases contains a variety of general and subject-specific resources from full-text magazine articles to book chapters. Follow the link to see descriptions of each database, then select as many or as few as you wish for your search. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Encyclopedia Britannica: Use this authoritative reference resource to locate background information on any topic imaginable. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project. Off campus link

Encyclopedia Britannica (Spanish Language Edition): Use this authoritative reference resource to locate background information on any topic imaginable. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Encyclopedia of American Business:  Brief entries detail the important people, places and events in the business world.  Off campus link

Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice (Gale Virtual Reference)An interdisciplinary source that addresses not only law but also sociology, psychology, history and economics. Entries vary widely from abortion to rape and from family violence to wiretapping, offering a mirror of issues dominating today's headlines. This edition is a complete update and revision of the previous edition that includes new essays on topics such as stalking, hate crimes, and HIV.

Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics (Gale Virtual Reference)
: This Encyclopedia considers both the professional ethics of science and technology, and the ethical and political issues raised by science and technology in an increasingly complex and global society. This broad coverage supports the numerous courses in applied and professional ethics and policy related to the practice of science and technology in education.

Encyclopedia of World Biography (Gale Virtual Reference) : A multicultural biographical source that covers notable individuals from every part of the world and from all time periods who have made significant contributions to human culture.

Encyclopedia of World Cultures (Gale Virtual Reference): This ebook set lists and describes more than 1,500 global cultures. Based on research of social scientists, it is the source for historical, social, political, economic, linguistic, religious, and other information on virtually every existing culture.

Encyclopedia of World War I & World War II: Access detailed information on the World Wars from their earliest roots to their continuing impact on global politics and human society in the Encyclopedia of World War 1 & World War II.

 

Gale Virtual Reference: Search the content of 19 subject-specific encyclopedias, almanacs, and other references resources using the Gale Virtual Reference interface.  Titles include: American Decades, Literature and Its Times, Encyclopedia of World Biography, and The Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life

Global Issues in Context: Gain a global perspective on current events by using the international news sources available through the Global Issues in Context database. This database also includes hundreds of topical and country portals covering social, political, military, economic, environmental, health, and cultural issues. Portals include podcasts, video and interactive graphs.

Global Road Warrior: Global Road Warrior provides key facts on the people, economy, and culture of 175 countries.

GreenFILE (EBSCO): GreenFILE offers well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. The database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 384,000 records, as well as Open Access full text for more than 4,700 records. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project. Off campus link

Grove Encyclopedia of Classical Art & Architecture (Oxford Reference Online)This encyclopedia spans every art form, medium, and civilization of the era, tracing the development of the art forms in Classical civilizations.

Health Source: Consumer (EBSCO): This database is the richest collection of consumer health information available to libraries worldwide, providing information from over 80 journals on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition (EBSCO): This database provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Historical Encyclopedia of American Business (Salem History): Brief entries detail the important people, places and events in the business world.  Off campus link

History Reference Center (EBSCO): History Reference Center offers full text from more than 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books, cover to cover full text for more than 150 leading history periodicals, nearly 57,000 historical documents, more than 78,000 biographies of historical figures, more than 113,000 historical photos and maps, and more than 80 hours of historical video. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

History Study Center: Locate primary and secondary sources on global history from ancient times to the present day using the History Study Center.  Off campus link 

Humanities International Complete (EBSCO): Humanities International Completeprovides full text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world.  Provided by the States of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

JSTOR: JSTOR is an online archive of core scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences with complete back runs of many titles.  Articles generally become available through the JSTOR database 3-5 years after publication.



LearningExpress Library: Prepare for the ACT, SAT, Advanced Placement, PSAT, CLEP and other college placement exams through the Learning Express Library. Each user will create an individual account and receive instant feedback and test assessments so that they can identify strengths and weaknesses. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink program. Off campus link

Literary Movements for Students (Gale Virtual Reference): Entries provide in-depth historical background information on each movement as well as modern critical interpretation of each movement's characteristic styles and themes.

Literary Reference Center (EBSCO):  LRC is a comprehensive database that combines information from over 1,000 books and monographs, major literary encyclopedias and reference works, hundreds of literary journals, and unique sources not available anywhere else. LRC contains detailed information on the most studied authors and their works.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link 

Literature and Its Times (Gale Virtual Reference): Provides in-depth commentary on characters, themes, and the historical and social context of hundreds of the most-studied literary works, including novels, plays, poems, speeches, and short stories, both international and American.

Magill's Medical Guide (Salem Health): Magill's Medical Guide is a perfect mix of accessibility and depth, providing general readers with an authoritative reference source that helps bridge the gap between medical encyclopedias for professionals and popular self-help guides. This resource covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders.  Off campus link  

MasterFILE Premier (EBSCO)MasterFILE Premier is a multidisciplinary database that indexes articles from more than 2,700 popular magazines and newspapers. Topics include health, current events, arts and the humanities, the sciences, and more. MasterFILE Premier provides some full text for more than 2,000 titles.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink Project.  Off campus link

MEDLINE (EBSCO): MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree, tree hierarchy, subheadings and explosion capabilities to search citations from over 4,800 current biomedical journals.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Milestone Documents in American History (Salem History)A collection of primary resources documents related to American history.  Off campus link

Military & Government Collection (EBSCO): Designed to offer current news pertaining to all branches of the military and government, this database offers a thorough collection of magazines, academic journals, and other content.  Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Modern American Literature (Gale Virtual Reference): Provides insight into the careers of nearly 500 20th-century American writers, including black and women writers. Entries include important critical excerpts, chronologically arranged and collected from a wide variety of sources such as books, scholarly journals, general periodicals and newspapers.

Newspaper Source Plus (EBSCO): Newspaper Source Plus includes more than 700 full-text newspapers, providing more than 33 million full-text articles. In addition, the database features more than 757,000 television and radio news transcripts. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

NoveList : NoveList provides access to full text reviews and annotations to more than 120,000 works of fiction. In addition, this database can recommend similar titles and authors and provide guides for book discussions.  Provide by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink program. Off campus link

Novels for Students (Gale Virtual Reference)Provides critical overviews of novels from various cultures and time periods. Includes discussions of plot, characters, themes and structure as well as the work's cultural and historical significance.

Oxford Biblical Studies Online: Use Oxford Biblical Studies Online to access comprehensive resource for the study of the Bible and biblical history. 

Oxford English Dictionary : The OED traces the evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years making it one of the most authoritative and comprehensive dictionary of English in the world. 

Oxford Reference Online: Search the content of over 100 subject-specific dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, and atlases using the Oxford Reference Online database. 

Psychology and Mental Health Encyclopedia (Salem Health): This comprehensive databas covers notable theories, people, social issues, life stages, the physiology and anatomy of the nervous system, and various mental illnesses or conditions. Off campus link


 

Science in Context: Science in Context simple search box allows you to search for information contained in over 200 popular and scholarly science journals and reference books on topics covering all the sciences. 

Science Reference Center (EBSCO): Science Reference Center is a comprehensive research database that provides easy access to a multitude of full text science-oriented content. This database contains full text for nearly 640 science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, etc. Provided by the State of Wisconsin's Badgerlink project.  Off campus link

Shakespeare for Students (Gale Virtual Reference): Collection of essays by Shakespeare scholars that have been selected for students at the high school or undergraduate college level. Each entry includes an introduction; a plot synopsis; a character list; a discussion of the work's principal themes; information about the style and literary devices used; a conversation about the work's historical context; and a critical overview.

SIRS Government Reporter (SIRS Knowledge Source): This database provides easy acces to information published by and about the United States Federal government.  Off campus link

SIRS Issues Researcher: SIRS Issues Researcher delivers the pros and cons on today’s complex social issues. Critical current issues and enduring social issues are covered through full-text articles, multimedia, primary sources, government documents and reference material from over 1,800 national and international sources.  Off campus link 

SIRS Knowledge Source: Explore social, scientific, health, historic, business, economic, political and global issues using SIRS Knowledge Source. This database includes magazine, newspaper, viewpoint essays, graphics, and reference books.

SIRS Renaissance (SIRS Knowledge Source): The SIRS Renaissance database provides current information, images, and analysis on art and humanities topics.  Off campus link

Statesman's Yearbook: Statesman’s Yearbook includes succinct political, economic and social accounts of every country of the world.

 

Teen Health and Wellness : This award winning databases provides up-to-date information on a variety of health topics such as nutrition, drugs and alcohol, and diseases. The information contained in Teen Health and Wellness has been reviewed by a team of health professionals.

U.X.L. Encyclopedia of Biomes (Gale Virtual Reference): Offers detailed comparative essays on major biomes and their component ecosystems. Includes entries on land biomes and water biomes and covers climate, elevation, soil, water bodies, vegetation, animal life, food web, plant and animal adaptations, endangered species, human effects on the biome and the effects of the environment on humans' culture and economy.

Weapons and Warfare (Salem History)An encyclopedia of historical and modern military weapon. Off campus link

World Eras (Gale Virtual Reference) :  Examines major civilizations that have flourished from antiquity to modern times, with a global perspective and a strong emphasis on daily life and social history.

World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras
: World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras cover early human history around the globe—from prehistoric times to the beginnings of the Renaissance.

World Literature and Its Times (Gale Virtual Reference): Examines the relationship between the political/social climate during which books were written and the works themselves.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life (Gale Virtual Reference): Covers cultural groups in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Africa. Each volume is organized by continent, covering history, politics, customs, religion, education, human rights issues, teen life, and more.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices (Gale Virtual Reference): Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices provides information on current religious practices around the world with an emphasis on how religions impact the daily lives of their followers.

Featured Database

 

JSTOR is an online archive of core scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences with complete back runs of many titles.  Articles generally become available through the JSTOR database 3-5 years after publication.

Research Starting Points

Not sure where to start?

Look to our Assignment Guides for research tips, print materials, websites, databases and more.  These guides make excellent starting points because they provide select resource in a logical order that will save you time.