Research Guides: African Studies and the African Diaspora: Databases

Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from journals, magazines, and reference sources that covering a broad range of academic study.
Covers anthropology, astronomy, biology, chemistry, civil engineering, engineering, ethnic & multicultural studies, geology, law, materials science, mathematics, music, pharmaceutical sciences, physics, psychology, religion & theology, veterinary science, women's studies, zoology, and many other fields.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text scholarly journal articles and ebooks related to the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Coverage: 2-5 years from current.
Humanities and Social Sciences Retrospective This link opens in a new window
Index of scholarly journals covering humanities and social sciences. Coverage: 1907 - 1984.
LUC Library Catalog Advanced Search This link opens in a new window
A search tool for finding books, journal articles, media, and other materials in the library collection. The advanced search provides filters and scopes to narrow your search results.

For the purposes of this page, a primary source is defined as an original work while a secondary source is an analysis, contextualization, critique, or reflection on another's work.

African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Full-text entries from encyclopedias and handbooks covering African American and African history and culture. Limited to three simultaneous users.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Full-text non-fiction writings by major American black leaders. Includes letters, speeches, essays, etc.
Chicago Defender This link opens in a new window
Full-text historical newspaper covering African American life, civil rights, segregation, radicalism, and anti-lynching legislation. Coverage: 1909-2010.

African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Full-text entries from encyclopedias and handbooks covering African American and African history and culture. Limited to three simultaneous users.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Scholarly articles, periodicals, and primary sources related to African Studies and the African Diaspora. Coverage: 1827 - 2003
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Full-text non-fiction writings by major American black leaders. Includes letters, speeches, essays, etc.
Cambridge Companions Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text essays from Cambridge Companions in literature, classics; philosophy, religion, and culture.
Oxford Handbooks Online: Classical Studies, Criminology and Criminal Justice, History, Philosophy, and Religion This link opens in a new window
Collection of handbooks containing articles by scholars in classical studies, criminology and criminal justice, history, philosophy, and religion.
Offers introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study.

AP Newsroom This link opens in a new window
Photographs, graphics, charts, news stories, and audio clips provided by The Associated Press. International in scope. Coverage: 1826 - present.
ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Digitized images of fine art from around the world. All images can be freely used for educational and noncommercial scholarly purposes.
Kanopy Streaming Video This link opens in a new window
Documentaries, independent and classic feature films, educational videos, and award-winning films and shorts. Distributors include PBS, Media Education Foundation, Documentary Education Resources, California Newsreel, Criterion Collection/Janus Films, Psychotherapy.net, and more.
Some titles come with full Public Performance Rights. To enable closed captions or subtitles while watching a film, select the CC icon in the bottom-right corner of the video player. Accounts must be renewed yearly on campus and using a browser, rather than the app.

Distributors part of Kanopy Streaming include Media Education Foundation, Documentary Education Resources, California Newsreel, Criterion Collection/Janus Films, Psychotherapy.net, and many more.
Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
Complete audio recordings of classical music.
Use the students/faculty personal accounts as login credentials for the NML mobile apps.
Naxos Jazz Music Library This link opens in a new window
Complete audio recordings of jazz, classic rock, and blues music.
New World Cinema: Independent Features and Shorts This link opens in a new window
Independent feature films and short films. Distributors include Kino Lorber, First Run Features, Film Movement, MK2, and Global Lens. Coverage: 1990 - present.

Book Review Digest Retrospective: 1905-1982 This link opens in a new window
Index of book reviews of adult and juvenile fiction and non-fiction. Coverage: 1905 - 1982.
New York Review of Books This link opens in a new window
Full-text collection of the New York Review of Books, a biweekly magazine on literature, culture, and current affairs. Includes book reviews. Coverage: 1963 - present.

New York Times Sunday Book Review
Presents reviews for general readers published between 1981 and the present.
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Humanities Journals, 1802-1974
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974

Databases for Subjects Often Cross-Listed with African Studies

Databases index journal articles as well as other materials which might include books, book chapters, dissertations, or conference proceedings. Remember that African studies is an interdisciplinary topic and, as such, one or more of a variety of databases may be best suited to your research. See the appropriate Research Guide for more complete lists of databases intended for particular disciplines.

Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Scholarly articles, periodicals, and primary sources related to African Studies and the African Diaspora. Coverage: 1827 - 2003
Anthropology Plus This link opens in a new window
Indexes including international coverage of the fields of anthropology and archaeology, and related interdisciplinary research. Updated monthly. Coverage: 1899s - present.
AnthroSource This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive collection of journals, newsletters, and bulletins, including the complete archival holdings from the American Anthropological Association (AAA).
America: History and Life This link opens in a new window
Index, abstracts and some full-text on the history of the United States and Canada. Coverage: 1960 - present. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Index with some full-text and abstracts covering world history, excluding the United States and Canada. Coverage: 1450 - present. Limited to 6 simultaneous users.
Art Full Text This link opens in a new window
Index of international abstracts and full text articles related to fine art. Coverage: 1984 - present.
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Index of full-text articles covering theatre, dance and performing arts. Coverage: 1984 - present.
MLA International Bibliography with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Index with some abstracts and some full-text journal articles, books, series, translations, and dissertations on the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film. Includes. Coverage: 1900s - present.
Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA) and includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals and the MLA Thesaurus.
Political Science Abstracts - World Wide This link opens in a new window
Indexes of political science and international relations literature. Including abstracts of journals, provides abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and working papers. Coverage: 1975 - present.
Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Abstracts and indexes from international journals in sociology, social psychology, and behavioral sciences. Coverage: 1952 - current.

Loyola University Chicago Libraries

African Studies and the African Diaspora

Google Scholar

Databases for Subjects Often Cross-Listed with African Studies