LibGuides: *English Subject Guide: Articles & Books

Library Databases

MLA International Bibliography on EBSCO This link opens in a new window
Produced by the Modern Language Association, this resource provides access to scholarly journal articles, books and dissertations on the subjects of literature, language and linguistics, folklore, literary theory & criticism, and dramatic arts, as well as rhetoric and the teaching of language and literature.
Gale Literature via NC LIVE This link opens in a new window
Articles, critical essays, work and topic overviews, full-text works, and biographies covering authors, their works, and literary movements.
Google Scholar (HPU-specific link) This link opens in a new window
Use this link to connect Google Scholar with HPU's collection of full-text journals. You will be asked for your HPU username and password if off-campus.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This database provides access to historical coverage of scholarly journals in a wide range of disciplines. Coverage goes back to the first issue (some as far back as the 1800s), but does not include the most recent issues (usually last 3-5 years).

Search the Library Catalog

The library's online catalog searches not only items available at HPU Libraries, but items available at libraries in our area (Triad Academic Library Association) and libraries around the world. If you find an item in our catalog that is not available at HPU, you may be able to go to a local TALA library and check it out, or request to borrow it from another library through Interlibrary Loan.

Tips for Searching

Tips for Searching Library Databases

Pay attention to the words that researchers and authors use when writing about your topic. The words we might use to describe something aren't necessarily the same as those used in scholarly literature. (Example: try searching the word "adolescents" instead of "teenagers.")
- Sometimes articles will have keywords listed under the abstract!
Try a few library databases to see how your search results differ. The library provides access to over 230 databases! Sometimes you need to search more than one to find what you're looking for.
Use quotation marks to search for a specific phrase. (Example: searching "social media" will find results where those two words are always side by side in your results.)
Look at citations! If you find a promising citation in the references list of an article, copy and paste the title of the promising article into our catalog search. This will show you if we have full-text access to it in any of our databases.
- You can also search for newer articles that have cited a specific article by searching the title of that specific article in Google Scholar and then clicking on "Cited by."
Be imaginative! Try narrowing your search by adding other related terms to your search. Take a look at the Topic & Background Info tab of this guide for ways to explore your topic.