Database Information Guide

Electronic Journals, Newspapers, and Magazines

General Databases

Use the drop box to select an article database to search. Further details about each database are provided below.

America's Newspapers - electronic access to more than 1,200 news sources, providing business, political, social and cultural coverage for the entire United States on every level, from the local to the national. AN also includes some national news magazines and video sources.

Biography Reference Bank Select - A full-text database providing biographical entries on more than 200,000 individuals, users can look through content that includes magazine and journal articles, obituaries, interviews, speeches, reviews of individuals' work and specially prepared biographical profiles.

EbscoHost - is a rich collection of general and specialized databases, all including at least some full text. Specialized databases focus on medicine, business, and education among other topics.

Elsevier ScienceDirect Journal Collection - provides access to the full-text of a selection of Elsevier's premier journals back to 1998 in the areas of life sciences, medicine, social sciences, business and management, computer and information science, linguistics, and urban planning. Citation and abstracts are available for earlier issues of the journals where full text is not provided.

FirstSearch - is a collection of databases covering a range of subjects. It includes both general databases and special databases focused on education and medicine and those that catalog special types of materials like government documents and conference papers.

Expanded Academic ASAP - is a strong, general periodical database that includes both full text articles and citations in the arts, humanities, science and technology. Expanded Academic ASAP's subject search offers users a distinct search strategy.

Lexis-Nexis Academic - is a news-oriented full-text database that also includes special subject areas of business and law as well as general reference resources. Among its special features are transcripts of broadcast news programming and foreign newspaper stories. The legal database provides quick access to both federal and state statuatory law, case law and patent searching.

Liebert E-Journals Online - collection contains more than 60 different electronic journals, primarily in health-related fields. Subject matter ranges from alternative therapies to viral immunology. Users may search by keyword or jump directly to the journal of interest and look through the tables of contents of particular issues.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center - takes Greenhaven Press's social issues series Opposing Viewpoints, At Issue and Current Controversies and supplements them in an online form by adding primary sources, statistics, related articles, multimedia and web links to provide users with the full context of a topic.

Sage Journals Online - provides access to the full text of many Sage's journals in Business, Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology and Medicine.

Science Resource Center - More than 200 magazines and academic journals, as well as special encyclopedia articles, experiments, biographies, illustrations and web links are gathered together in this database.

Electronic Newspapers, Magazines and Journals

Chicago Tribune and Chicago Tribune Historical Archive - The Chicago Tribune is available in full text. Front page coverage goes back through 1900. Major stories coverage dates back to the 1920s.

CQ Researcher Online - Issued by Congressional Quarterly, CQ Researcher offers balanced examinations of a single controversial topic in each weekly issue. Topics can include anything from government secrecy to teen sex.

Illinois Periodicals Online - Online access to nine magazines about Illinois: Illinois Country Living, Illinois Heritage, Illinois History, Illinois History Teacher, Illinois Issues, Illinois Libraries, Illinois Municipal Review, Illinois Parks & Recreation, OutdoorIllinois

Historical New York Times - The New York Times database provides users with access to the United States unofficial newspaper of record from 2005 back to 1851 in a fully searchable format.

Electronic Books and Reference Resources

AccessScience Science Encyclopedia - AccessScience is the McGraw-Hill online Encyclopedia of Science & Technology. It includes biographical information about famous scientists and mathematicians as well as bibliographies, study guides, science news, and links to science sites on the web.

American Decades Primary Sources - This reference series provides access to primary sources relevent to significant political, social, economic and cultural events from the twentieth century. The types of source included range from diaries and editorials to public documents, photographs, songs and advertisements.

American History - This ABC-CLIO full-text database provides comprehensive content about U.S. history from the beginning to the present day organized in terms of events, people, and organizations. The database is divided into two basic divisions: essays and an analysis section. It also includes a rich collection of primary sources as well as discussion questions and supporting material. Interlinked with World History: Modern and World History: Ancient and Medieval as well as World Geography.

American Indian History Online - A Facts on File database that provides full-text access to a wealth of resources on Native American history and culture. A wide cross-section of primary sources are included, ranging from government documents to memoirs and journals, as well as images and videos related to American Indian history and culture.

Bloom's Literary Reference Online - A Facts on File database that provides full-text access to the library of Harold Bloom literary criticism resources as well as a number of other full-text critical and biographical sources about authors from the complete canon of world writers. Video clips and images illustrate many concepts.

Books in Print - Books-in-Print is the electronic version of the standard reference source for determining what books are currently available from publishers. In addition, the electronic version features book reviews, biographical information on authors, contact information about publishers, bestseller and award lists, and essays about literature that appeared in different years.

CARLI Digital Collections - Several digitized image collections, including the Saskia Digital Image Archive (see below), provided by or to CARLI library consortia members. These collections vary widely in content, including everything from images of the Chicago's Century of Progress World's Fair in 1933-34 and Chicago Urban League materials to a Pueblo pottery collection and other Native American art, a collection of 20th century popular public-domain songs, Pullman car drawings, and a Broadway designer's work.

Consumer Health Source Complete - A comprehensive full-text resource providing access to a full range of consumer-oriented medical information, including more than 200 reference works, more than 1000 animations and videos, more than 500 health periodicals, more than 1800 health pamphlets and drug education sheets, and thousands of health reports. .

Credo Reference Center - 400+ online reference resources from many of world's leading publishers providing information in fields ranging from business to art to foreign language to science. Resources include dictionaries, encyclopedias, thesauruses, directories, field guides, and quotation dictionaries.

Encyclopedia Britannica - This version of Britannica offer users all the depth of coverage and scholarly quality of this renowned encyclopedia in an online format.

Encyclopedia of the Cold War - This online ABC-Clio encyclopedia provides access to the 5-volume resource that most comprehensively documents the most significant conflict of the latter half of the twentieth century. It includes primary documents as well as drawing from the archives of East Germany, China and Russia.

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History - The online version of this 5-volume set and supplement covers all aspects of the African-American experience from 1619 through today. More than 2,300 articles examine the history and present-day situation of African-Americans.

Encyclopedia of Latin American American History and Culture - a multidisciplinary reference to Latin American culture and experience that covers the range from the prehistoric to the present in areas as diverse as politics, the arts, and social development.

Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology - This reference encyclopedia provides more than 2,000 entries on various individuals, countries, controversies, cults, and practices related to the topics of occultism and parapsychology.

Encyclopedia of Philosophy - The online version of the updated edition of this reference standard contains more than 2,100 entries ranging in subject from Buddhist philosophy to the Holocaust to biomedical ethics. The second edition also features 1,000 biographical entries on major figures in philosophical thought throughout history.

Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer - This electronic version of the 2-volume print original covers 120 cancers in depth, as well as both traditional and alternative treatments, drugs, diagnostic procedures and side effects.

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine - The online version of the 3rd edition of the 5-volume encyclopedia includes information on more than 1,600 medical concepts and conditions, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and procedures.

Global Road Warrior - This resource provides detailed geographical information on all of the nations of the world, including demographic data, climate, culture (including stereotypes), financial, security, communication, technology, medical, and extensive travellers' information. While some of the material is drawn from such sources as the CIA Fact Book, much is proprietary.

HarpWeek--Harper's Weekly 1857-1877 Issues Online - The online version of Harper’s Weekly magazine from the years 1857-1877. This digitized version of the popular magazine provides access to original news and cultural coverage of one of the most volatile periods in U.S. history.

Historical Statistics of the United States - This online reference provides access to a wide variety of tabulated statistics related to the U.S. population over time as well as informational essays related to that statistical information. Users can search for very specific types of data in relation to particular periods and then create custom tables as well.

Illinois Sanborn Maps, 1867 - 1970 - Sanborn maps are large-scale maps of cities and towns drawn at a scale of 50 feet to an inch. Created to assist fire insurance companies in assessing the risks related to particular properties, the maps chart the development of urban areas over time. The plans include detailed information about each building as well as street names and details, property boundaries, building use, and house and block numbers.

Issues and Controversies - This full-text Facts on File database explores controversial topics in depth, but from a neutral perspective, providing background to the issues involved, outlining the criticisms as well as the benefits and arguments of proponents. Further sources are recommended, with links when available.

Issues and Controversies in American History - This full-text Facts on File database explores controversial topics in U.S. history. Users can either select topics based on the subject or can approach topics through a pro- and con- menu. There is also a chronological index. Each topic includes a detailed historical context as well as a section which outlines the explicitly controversial aspects of the subject. Related biographies, news events, primary documents, sidebar events and overviews are linked to the topic.

Latino American Experience - This ABC-CLIO resource focuses on the heritage, history and culture of Latino-Americans, as well as including contemporary issues of interest. The database includes biographies, controversial issues explored in depth, primary resources in everything from the arts to history and political topics, and sections on popular culture.

NetLibrary Online Book Collection - NetLibrary is a collection of electronic books on a range of subjects. These works can be browsed online and actually checked out so that the user can have short-term exclusive access to them, as they would with a regular library book.

New Encyclopedia of Africa - This reference source provides in-depth coverage of the African continent, giving both historical context back through the early pharoahinic and sub-Saharan cultures through today's complex of 53 nations, and issues that confront the continent as a whole.

OxfordArtOnline - is the online version of the revised 38 volume Grove Dictionary of Art as well as The Oxford Companion to Western Art, The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, and The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms.. It provides articles on artists and art subjects, art news, and links to a vast array of images.

Oxford English Dictionary - The online version of the standard reference source for the development and usage of words in the English language.

OxfordMusicOnline - is the online version of the revised Grove Dictionary of Music (which includes the New Grove Dictionary of Opera) as well as The Oxford Dictionary of Music and The Oxford Companion of Music.

Pop Culture Universe - This entertaining full-text database from ABC-CLIO provides information about human culture from a diverse variety of angles, covering the time period from 1900 to the present. Although the focus is principally on the U.S., the popular culture of other regions of the world is also included. In addition to the more obvious subject areas, such as entertainment, fashion and sports, the database also includes information religion, business and advertising, ethnic culture and technology.

Sage e-Reference Center - This online reference collection includes 62 special subject encyclopedias in the health and social sciences, communication and management. Several focus on aspects of criminal justice.

Saskia Digital Archive - a collection of more than 30,000 high resolution, digital images of art and architectural masterpieces as well as some archaelogical sites available for educational uses. The collection also provides descriptive information about the images from several major art history texts in which the images appear, such as Gardner's Art Through the Ages, 12th ed. and Understanding Art, 7th ed.

Science Resource Center - More than 200 magazines and academic journals, as well as subject-specific reference encyclopedias, experiments, biographies, illustrations and web links are gathered together in this database.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture - This reference encyclopedia presents more than 2,500 topics related to pop culture in the U.S. in the twentieth century.

World Geography - This ABC-CLIO full-text database provides users with an opportunity to explore world geography in two principal ways: either by country or by analyzing a specific topic important on the global or a particular regional stage. The database includes standard information for each country (maps, flags, landforms, resources, climate, etc.), but it also includes sections on the history and contemporary issues important to each. Interlinked with American History, World History: Modern and World History: Ancient and Medieval.

World History: Ancient and Medieval - This ABC-CLIO full-text database provides comprehensive content about world history from prehistory to 1500 A.D. organized in terms of events, people, and organizations. The database is divided into two basic divisions: essays and an analysis section. It also includes a rich collection of primary sources as well as discussion questions and supporting material. Interlinked with American History, World History: Modern as well as World Geography.

World History: Modern - This ABC-CLIO full-text database provides comprehensive content about world history from 1500 A.D. to the present day organized in terms of events, people, and organizations. The database is divided into two basic divisions: essays and an analysis section. It also includes a rich collection of primary sources as well as discussion questions and supporting material. Interlinked with American History, World History: Ancient and Medieval as well as World Geography.

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Created January 23, 2006
Revised October 6, 2009