LibGuides: Comparative American Studies: Finding Sources

Scholarly Sources

Both scholarly and peer-reviewed articles are written by experts in academic or professional fields. Scholarly articles are published in journals for specific academic disciplines. Many scholarly journals are also peer-reviewed.

Peer-reviewed articles are submitted to reviewers who are experts in the field. Because the reviewers specialize in the same scholarly area as the author, they are considered the author’s peers (hence “peer review”).

Both scholarly and peer-reviewed articles are excellent places to find what has been studied or researched on a topic, as well as find references to additional relevant sources of information.

Academic Search Complete
Multidisciplinary - good for nearly all subjects. Scholarly and trade journals, popular magazines, newspapers, conference proceedings, book reviews, and more.
America: History and Life
Index to research on the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Indexes articles and book reviews from more than 1,700 journals published in more than 40 languages. Dates of Coverage: 1964 to date
American Race Relations: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996
Thousands of commentaries on African American, Hispanic American, Asian American and Native American history covering foreign reactions to America's struggles with racial justice from the Jim Crow era to the Civil Rights movements and beyond.
Bibliography of Indigenous Peoples in North America
Index of books, essays, journal articles, and government documents from the U.S. and Canada, covering native North American history and culture.
Chicano Database
Citations to articles and books on all aspects of the Mexican-American, Chicano and broader Latino experience. Broad subject coverage includes art, language, sociology, psychology, public policy, economics, history, literature, politics, and law. Dates of Coverage: 1960s to date
Early Encounters in North America
Letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters between Native Americans and peoples from Europe, as well as Latin America, Asia, and Africa.
Gender Studies Database
Covers the full spectrum of sexual diversity issues and gender-engaged scholarship inside and outside academia. Source documents include professional journals, conference papers, books, book chapters, government reports, discussion and working papers, theses and dissertations, and more. Dates of Coverage: 1972 to date
Immigrations, Migrations and Refugees: Global Perspectives, 1941-1996
Translated and English-language radio and television broadcasts, newspapers, periodicals, government documents and books providing global insight on immigration in the mid-to-late 20th century.
JSTOR
Scholarly journal archive for the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences; current issues (usually the last 2-5 years) are not digitized by JSTOR and may be obtained elsewhere.
Nexis Uni
A wide range of news, political, legal, and business information from thousands of sources, mostly full text. Includes newspapers, magazines, wire services, federal and state court opinions, federal and state statutes, federal regulations, and SEC filings. News information is updated daily and wire services several times daily.
LGBTQ+ Source
Includes the full text of more than one hundred current or historically significant Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) journals, magazines and regional newspapers, and books.
SocINDEX with Full Text
Provides full text of some journal articles, and indexing and abstracts for journals, books and conference papers. Covers all sub-fields of sociology, including criminology, gender, marriage & family studies, social work, social psychology, addictions, violence, and more. Covers scholarly publications in sociology, social work, and related fields. Contains 2.3 million articles and other materials (64% in full text) with deep coverage from 1960 and some back to 1882.
Women's Studies International
Nearly 800 essential sources including journals, newspapers, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, proceedings, reports, theses, dissertations, NGO studies, Web sites & Web documents, and grey literature. Dates of Coverage: 1972-

American Quarterly
American Quarterly reflects the evolving landscape of American Studies, and not only publishes traditional scholarship but welcomes innovative approaches to critical writing through forums, event and book reviews, and "Currents" -- timely pieces about topics of current importance to the world of American Studies.
Comparative American Studies
Covers literature, film, popular culture, photography and the visual arts. Attention is also given to history, the social sciences and politics, particularly insofar as these fields impact on cultural texts.

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Note: EBSCOhost Humanities International Complete available from 3/1/2007 - (Due to publisher restrictions, the most recent 12 months are not available.)
Journal of American Studies
Journal of American Studies seeks to critique and interrogate the notion of "America", pursuing this through international perspectives on the history, literature, politics and culture of the United States.

Primary Sources

Library of Congress Digital Collections
Gateway to the Library of Congress's vast resources of digitized American historical materials. Comprising more than 9 million items that document U.S. history and culture, the content is organized into more than 100 thematic collections.
Gale Primary Sources (OhioLINK Access)
Topically focused collections of historical documents, including the American Civil Liberties Union Papers (1912-1990), Archives Unbound, Archives of Sexuality & Gender, British Library Newspapers, The Economist Historical Archive (1843-2014), 18th Century Collections Online, Indigenous Peoples: North America, 19th Century Collections Online, 19th Century U.S. Newspapers, Political Radicalism & Extremism in the 20th Century, Sabin Americana (1500-1926), and The London Times Digital Archive (1785-1985).
Ethnic NewsWatch
Full-text coverage of newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press in America. Dates of Coverage: 1959 to date

Data & Statistics

Data.gov
Provides descriptions of the Federal datasets (metadata), information about how to access the datasets, and tools that leverage government datasets. Great place to find population, housing, economic and geographic data, climate, education, energy, health, and science as well as maps, fact sheets, tools and other resources.
Social Explorer
Provides access to current and historical U.S. census and other demographic data. Users can create maps and reports.
Users must register for an account (free for current students, faculty, and staff with an active oberlin.edu email address) to access a full range of features.
Follow these steps to complete the account registration process:
1. If prompted, enter oberlin.edu email address, then select Continue;
2. Enter first name, last name, and a password, then select Continue;
3. Under “Choose industry”, select “Education” from the dropdown menu;
4. Under “Position”, select the appropriate role (e.g. “Undergraduate Student”), then select “Continue”;
5. A pop-up message may appear, confirming coverage under a professional license provided by the College; select “Continue”.
State & County Quickfacts
Provides statistics for all states and counties, and for cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more.

iPoll Search (1935 to date)
Comprehensive source for US nationwide public opinion as measured by academic, media and commercial survey organizations. Data is available at the question-level. Dates of coverage: 1935 -

Sage Data
Large repository of harmonized datasets from a variety of sources, with global and time series coverage. Datasets allow complete access to datasets using customizable tables, graphs and maps, with numerous output formats available (Excel, PDF, delimited text, SAS, SPSS, XML, Shapefile GIS).