Guides: WR 4111: Research Methods In Writing: Databases

Gordon Library Databases

The WPI Library subscribes to many databases. Use these databases discover a variety of electronic resources to support your research.

All Databases A-Z: A complete list of the library's databases.
Databases by Subject: Find databases for engineering, natural sciences, humanities, and more.
Databases by Type: Find databases for specific types of sources, such as newspapers, patents, standards, statistics, and other categories.
Database Trials: Check out the databases that we are testing out.

Not sure where to start? Have a question for a librarian? Request a consultation or email us.

Suggested Databases for Humanities

Use these databases to find journal articles, books, and book chapters on writing, rhetoric, composition and communication topics.

Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile: Communications and Mass Media) This link opens in a new window
From marketing professionals to students studying for advanced degrees in linguistic theory, this collection provides current and accurate information from more than 450 journals focused on all aspects of the communications field. Key subjects covered include: advertising and public relations, literature and writing, linguistics, and many more.
Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new window
Indexing and full text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world on various humanities topics.
Coverage: 1920s-
Full Text: Yes
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Online archive of eBooks and complete backruns of scholarly journals in a variety of academic fields.
Coverage: 1800s-
Full Text: Yes
Titles Included | Search Tips
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Full text access to scholarly humanities, social sciences, and mathematics journals.
Coverage: Varies
Full Text: Yes
Titles Included
SAGE Journals This link opens in a new window
Access more than 650 journals spanning the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology, and Medicine.
Taylor & Francis Social Science and Humanities Library This link opens in a new window
Over 1100 titles, many published on behalf of prestigious societies, organizations and associations such as: Association of American Geographers, American Planning Association, British Educational Research Association, and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Coverage: 1997-Present
Full Text: Yes

To find more history databases and electronic resources, check out the Humanities Databases.

Locating Relevant Databases at WPI

This video tutorial describes the process for locating and accessing WPI Library databases.

Frequently Used Databases

Engineering Village This link opens in a new window
Abstracts from the Compendex database, which includes the electronic version of Engineering Index, with links to full text articles, patents, standards and handbooks in scientific, applied science, technical and engineering disciplines.
Coverage: 1884-
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Google search for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports on all topic areas. Use to find articles from academic publishers, professional societies, prepublication repositories and universities.
Coverage: Varies
Full Text: Yes
IEEE Xplore Digital Library This link opens in a new window
The IEEE Xplore digital library is a resource for discovery of scientific and technical content published by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and its publishing partners. It contains the.full text of all IEEE and IEE journal articles, conference papers, and standards.
Coverage: 1888-
Full Text: Yes
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Online archive of eBooks and complete backruns of scholarly journals in a variety of academic fields.
Coverage: 1800s-
Full Text: Yes
Titles Included | Search Tips
PubMed This link opens in a new window
PubMed comprises more than 29 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites.
Coverage: 1966-
Full Text: Yes
Titles Included | Search Tips | Tutorial
ScienceDirect This link opens in a new window
Full text access to more than 2000 Elsevier science, social science, engineering and management scholarly journals.
Coverage: Varies
Full Text: Yes
Scopus This link opens in a new window
Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, features smart tools to track, analyze and visualize research. Scopus delivers the most comprehensive overview of the world’s research output in the fields of Science, Technology, Medicine, Social Sciences, and Arts & Humanities. As research becomes increasingly global, interdisciplinary and collaborative, Scopus helps ensure that crucial research from around the world is not missed.
WorldCat.org This link opens in a new window
Catalog of books (and other materials) in libraries worldwide.
Coverage: 1200-
Full Text: No

Searching a Database and Retrieving Full Text Articles at WPI

This video tutorial provides instructions on searching WPI Library databases and on obtaining full-text articles, when available.