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Background sources help you build a foundation of knowledge before you dive into detailed research. They define key terms, outline major issues, and provide context so you can understand how your topic fits into a bigger picture. These resources are especially useful when you’re narrowing a research question, getting familiar with debates, or identifying keywords to use later in scholarly databases.
Gale Ebooks (formerly named Gale Virtual Library or GVRL) provides a wealth of full-text reference and general subject books in a wide variety of subjects.
Sources offered in the GVRL include multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company histories, consumer health references and history compilations. A wide variety of subjects are covered including arts, biography, business, education, environment, history, law, medicine, multicultural, religion and science.
Points of View Reference Source provides a series of articles representing multiple controversial viewpoints. This resource can be used as a guide to debate, developing arguments, writing position papers, and for development of critical thinking skills.
Points of View Reference Source is a full-text database which provides 200 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument). Topics covered include such as: affirmative action, cloning, DNA profiling, HIV/AIDS status disclosure, immigration, the Iraq, Israel & the Palestinians, Katrina and FEMA response, nuclear proliferation, separation of church and state, standardizing testing, stem cell research, tax cuts, voting machines, etc.
Provides reports focused on topics of current interest covering a wide range of social, economic, political, and environmental issues. A great tool to use for discovering research topics and gathering background information.
Full text access to titles from Oxford University Press. The collection includes subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, and reference works in more than twenty subject areas. NOTE: Only 1 simultaneous user allowed.
Oxford Reference Online Premium brings together over 175 titles in the Oxford Companions and Oxford Dictionaries series plus the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. All of the reference titles can be searched at once. More than twenty subject areas are covered.
NOTE: Only 1 simultaneous user allowed.
This landmark work describes the state of the art in all the fields encompassed within the social and behavioral sciences
It presents thousands of articles that address topics within fields such as: Anthropology, Archaeology, Clinical Psychology, Community Psychology, Crime and Criminality, Demography, Developmental Psychology, Economics, Gender Studies, Geography, Health, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Justice Studies, Management, Motivational/Emotional Psychology, Personality Psychology and Self, Political Science, Psychiatry, Social Psychology, Sociology, and Urban Studies. It covers overarching topics and methodologies such as institutions and infrastructure, history of the social and behavioral sciences, ethics of research and applications, biographies, statistics, as well as integrative concepts and issues.
Opposing Viewpoints is the premier online resource covering today's hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.
Databases are your gateway to scholarly journal articles, conference proceedings, dissertations, and other specialized materials. Start with the recommended five databases listed here, then branch out into additional subject-specific options as your project develops. Each database has its own features, but together they form the backbone of advanced literature searching.
Provides citations for articles from English-language periodicals and yearbooks dealing with educational topics
Provides citations for articles from English-language periodicals and yearbooks published in the U.S. and elsewhere dealing with educational topics. English-language books relating to education published in 1995 or later are indexed.
Contains more than 190,000 bibliographic records covering areas related to educational administration, including educational leadership, educational management, educational research, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.
Educational Administration Abstracts contains more than 190,000 bibliographic records covering areas related to educational administration, including educational leadership, educational management, educational research, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline.
Includes over 1,020 top educational publications, including more than 640 of the titles in full text. Offering complete information on hundreds of educational topics, this database offers complete text and images from journals such as: Childhood Education, College Teaching, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Athletic Training, and Educational Theory.
ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, provides references to a broad range of educational topics. Includes articles, books, theses, curriculi, conference papers, reports and standards
ERIC, the Educational Resource Information Center, provides extensive access to education literature and resources. The database provides access to information from journals previously included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and Resources in Education Index. ERIC provides coverage of journal articles, conferences, theses, audiovisual media, directories, monographs and government documents.
Covers a large variety of topics and is recommended for most research projects. It contains articles from many academic journals, magazines, newspapers, and other credible sources.
Academic Search Complete is the world's largest scholarly, multidisciplinary full-text database designed specifically for academic institutions. It provides access to more than 8,500 full-text journals, including more than 7,300 peer-reviewed journals, as well as indexing and abstracts of more than 12,500 journals and more than 13,200 books, reports, conference proceedings, etc. Subjects covered include: anthropology, arts and literature, computer sciences, education, engineering, ethnic studies, humanities, language and linguistics, law, medical sciences, social sciences, etc. Most content is available in printer-friendly, searchable PDFs. Updated daily.
This database is devoted to peer-reviewed literature in behavioral science and mental health.
The American Psychological Association's abstracts of scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and dissertations in the behavioral sciences and mental health. Covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, and other areas. Indexing and abstracting of articles from nearly 10,000 journals, book chapters, books, and dissertations. Links to full text in the PsycARTICLES database as well as other full-text EBSCOhost databases.
An online search tool that provides information and instruction on research methods. It is aimed at university students, researchers, and faculty and is designed to answer methods questions that arise during the various steps of the research process, including the literature search, review, research design, data collection, analysis, and write up.
SAGE Research Methods is a research methods tool created to help researchers, faculty and students with their research projects. SAGE Research Methods contains content from over 720 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, the entire “Little Green Book”, the "Little Blue Book” series, two major works collating a selection of journal articles, and specially commissioned videos. Researchers can explore methods and concepts to help them design research projects, understand particular methods or identify a new method, conduct their research, and write up their findings. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.
This site includes all e-journals published by Sage. The UTA Libraries has an agreement with Sage to cover APCs for corresponding authors. Visit our Open Access Agreements page for more info. Utilize the 'Advanced Search' and select either "Open Access content only" or "Only content I have full access to" in order to retrieve full-text titles to which UTA subscribes.
Gale Academic OneFile provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning.
Gale OneFile: Diversity Studies explores cultural differences, contributions and influences in the global community. This collection includes more than 2.7 million articles from 150 journals, updated daily.
Provides access to authoritative periodical content covering topics such as 21st-century skills, organizational dynamics and leadership, adult learning and continuing education, and more. Updated daily, this library resource is useful for researchers or any professional interested in career development.
Journals are where new scholarship first takes shape and enters the academic conversation. They publish peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and commentary that reflect current research and debates in a field. Use journals to follow emerging ideas, track influential authors, and ground your project in up-to-date evidence. Many journals are accessed through databases, but browsing key titles directly can also help you stay connected to ongoing discussions.
Books, both print and electronic, give you broad coverage, background, and depth on your research topic. Use the UTA Libraries catalog to search across our collections, request items from other libraries through Interlibrary Loan, and access e-books instantly from your laptop or phone.
Data and statistics databases provide the raw materials behind research—numbers, trends, and datasets you can analyze to support your own arguments. These resources range from national surveys to international indicators and specialized datasets. Start with broad collections to get a sense of what’s available, then move into discipline-specific sources for deeper analysis. Learning to navigate these databases equips you not only to find data, but also to evaluate its origins, reliability, and relevance to your work.
Google Scholar can be a useful tool for quick discovery, citation chaining, and broad searching across disciplines. To get the most out of it at UTA, install the LibKey Nomad browser extension, this connects Google Scholar to UTA’s full-text subscriptions so you don’t hit unnecessary paywalls. Remember: Scholar works best as a supplement to, not a replacement for, database searching.
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