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*Literature

On this page you'll find the databases we recommend for articles on literature topics. Depending on your specific project, you may find certain resources more relevant that others.

Literary Databases

These resources that include a vast number of articles on topics in English, including literary criticism, as well as other articles from both scholarly and popular sources, so be sure to evaluate your sources in order to make sure they're appropriate for your project.

Database Search Strategies

Databases respond well to keyword searching. To search efficiently, turn your research question into a keyword search:

Research Question:  How is race portrayed in Octavia Butler's novel Kindred?

Search One: (Search with keywords connected by “and”):
race AND Octavia Butler and Kindred

Search Two: (Truncate some of the keywords using *):
rac* AND Octavia Butler and Kindred

Search Three: (Add alternate words into the search with “(or)”):
(rac* OR ethnic* OR stereotyp*) AND Octavia Butler AND Kindred

Truncate keywords where applicable.  Truncation uses the asterisk (*) to end a word at its core, allowing you to retrieve many more documents containing variations of the search term.  Truncation can also be used to find the singular and plural forms of a term.  Example: educat* will find educate, educates, education, educators, educating and more.

 

Examples of Truncation
Rac* Ethnic* Stereotyp*
Race
Races
Races'
Racism
Racial
Racially
Ethnic
Ethnics
Ethnical
Ethnicity
Ethnicities
Stereotype
Stereotypes
Stereotyped
Stereotypical
Stereotyping

Remember to Ask Yourself:

1. Who said it? 2. When did they say it? 3. How did they know?

Trust It or Trash It

Connect Google Scholar and the Library

Connect Google Scholar and the MCPHS Libraries to get to the full-text articles you find. Don't skip or pay for articles - check the Library first!

Use the Get Full Text (MCPHS) links next to the result to get the article.

 

Set Up Google Scholar & MCPHS Libraries:

  1. Click on Settings in the upper right corner of Google Scholar.
  2. Choose Library Links on the left, search for MCPHS.
  3. Select MCPHS - Get Full Text (MCPHS).
  4. Click the blue Save button.
  5. That's it!

Next time you're searching, look for the MCPHS - Get Full Text (MCPHS). link next to each search result.

Don't see it? Click on more underneath the result. 

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