LibGuides: Native American Studies: Articles

Which One Do I Use?

Journals?
Magazines?
Newspapers?

When doing research, it is useful to know what these different publications are and what kind of information they contain.

• Journal articles are more scholarly or professional while magazine articles tend to be shorter and more general.

• Magazine articles appeal to the general reader and usually have relatively short articles are written in non-technical language are easy to understand

• Newspaper articles, while not usually scholarly or professional, can give you the most current news and some additional facts on your topic.

What is a Database?

A library database is both an electronic catalog and the access point to information from published works, such as magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, journals and other resources.

• Library databases provide access to authoritative information sources.

• Library databases provide access to resources across a wide spectrum of topic and subject areas.

• Library databases provide access to many years worth of published information at no cost to students.

• Library databases allow you to to limit or expand your search results by using the Boolean operators AND, OR, NOT.

• Library databases give you citation information to help you locate and cite the articles.

• Library databases give you an abstract or summary to tell you what the article is about.

• Most Library databases provide articles in full-text or PDF format.

Magazine, Journal and Newspaper Articles

Finding Articles image of newspaper articles

Research on a subject is seldom complete without periodical literature - magazines, journals, and newspapers.

To find articles on your topic, you must use periodical indexes. Indexes provide you with subject access to articles in different magazines, journals, and newspapers. They allow you to search in one place for articles published in many different periodicals or in one particular periodical over many years. A database is an electronic index used for locating articles.

For your research try using one of the online databases listed below. Conduct your search in these databases by using subject headings and keywords similar to those you used to locate books.

To access the databases from off campus you will be prompted to enter your Cerritos College User ID and password. For more login information see the Database Login page.

See the Database Page for a complete description of the Cerritos College Library online resources.

Useful Databases

Use the following databases to find articles that are most relevant to your topic. See the Database Page for a complete description of the Cerritos College Library online resources.

Remember:

Always search databases using only the keywords that best describe your topic
Keywords can be combined into a search string with the operators "and", "or", "not"

American Indian Experience This link opens in a new window
ABC-CLIO resource that provides historical accounts and cultural information about the indigenous peoples of North America.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Access biographies, bibliographies, and critical analysis of world authors from every age and literary discipline. Includes Gale Literature: Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Novels for Students, Shakespearean Criticism, and Poetry Criticism.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
ProQuest's multidisciplinary, full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines and journals from ethnic, minority and native presses. Covers current and historical topics. Searchable in both English and Spanish.
GenderWatch This link opens in a new window
ProQuest's full-text collection of publications that focus on the impact of gender across a broad spectrum of subject areas. Includes academic and scholarly journals, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, regional publications, books, booklets, and government and non-governmental organization special reports.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Multi-disciplinary full text for more than 12,000 scholarly journals, including nearly 6,000 peer-reviewed titles. Offers information in nearly every area of academic study including: computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, and many more. Also includes many popular magazines.
Project Muse This link opens in a new window
Provides access to the full-text to more than 180 scholarly and peer-reviewed journal titles in history, literature, philosophy, religion, theater, music and film, among others.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Scholarly journal articles, books, and primary sources supporting multiple disciplines such as art, art history, architecture, history, language, literature, film, dance, and the performing arts.
Historic Mexican & Mexican American Press This link opens in a new window
Documents and showcases historic Mexican and Mexican American publications published in Tucson, El Paso, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sonora, Mexico from the mid-1800s to the 1970s. Contains English and Spanish content. Created and maintained by the University of Arizona.

Scholarly Journals, Popular Magazines, Trade Publications

What is a Scholarly Journal?

Scholarly journals are generally published by and for experts. A publication is considered to be peer reviewed if its articles go through an official editorial process that involves review and approval by the author’s peers (people who are experts in the same subject area.) Articles in scholarly journals present new, previously unpublished research. Scholarly sources will almost always include:

Bibliography and footnotes
Author’s name and academic credentials

Use scholarly journals for highly focused original research.

Examples: AMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, African American Review, Modern Fiction Studies, American Psychologist and American Sociological Review

What is a Popular Magazine?

Articles in popular magazines tend to be written by staff writers or freelance journalists and are geared towards a general audience. While most magazines adhere to editorial standards, articles do not go through a peer review process and rarely contain bibliographic citations. Popular magazines are periodicals that one typically finds at grocery stores, airport newsstands, or bookstores. Use popular magazines for a general overview of current news and opinions, or firsthand accounts of an event.

Examples: Popular magazines range from highly respected publications such as Scientific American and The Atlantic Monthly to general interest magazines like People, Sports Illustrated and Newsweek and US News & World Report.

What is a Trade Publication?

Trade publications focus on a specific profession or trade. Articles in trade magazines cover the interest of skilled laborers, technicians, and artisans. Professional magazines cover the interests of professors, librarians, and members of other fields that require advanced degrees. Subject magazines cover a topic of interest to one or more professions. Use trade magazines for overviews of news and research in a particular field.

Examples: Legal Assistant Today and Library Journal