A Guide to Doing Research through the UAH Library Website

From the library website, you can access journals (by name or by subject).

You can also access online databases, such as the MLA International Bibliography, the MLA Directory of Periodicals, Project MUSE, JSTOR, etc. (Some of these are purely bibliographic databases, some are full-text, and some are a combination of both.)

The easiest way to access the MLA International Bibliography, is to access the databases through the “A-Z” button and then click on the “M” located on the browser.

If you scroll down the list, you’ll see both the MLA Directory of Periodicals (which contains information regarding the publication of research journals) as well as the MLA International Bibliography (which contains the entire database of publications sorted by topic, author, subject, text, etc.).

Our library’s access to the MLA International Bibliography is routed through EBSCO Host, a database that contains databases (very postmodern, I know). However, just as if you were searching the MLA Int. Bib directly, you can “surf” the database for relevant publications, in this case anything on “Morrison, Toni” and “Love.”

Once you click on the “Search” button, the database will present your results. In this case, there are 72 publications that fit my research parameters, and one of which (“A Love Supreme: Jazzthetic Strategies in Toni Morrison’s Beloved”) is available through the database as a PDF.

If, for example, I wanted to track down a copy of the first essay listed (“A New ‘Roman’ Empire: Toni Morrison’s Love and the Classics”) I would need to see if our library carries or has access to the Journal of American Studies. To do that, I have to go back to the library main page and search our journal list for the title.

Once I’ve done so, I learn that our library carries hard copy and also has access to an electronic copy of the journal’s contents through “Cambridge Journals Online” (another database that covers information from 1997 to the present) and “E-Journals from EBSCO” (which covers January 2000 to December 2007).

So, now I have options. I can go to the library, find a hard copy of the article, and photocopy it. Or, I can go back to the database list and see if I can access “Cambridge Journals Online – Full-Text Articles,” which I can.

Once I have accessed this new database, I simply type the title of the article I’m seeking into the browser function (in this case in the box labeled “Article Title” and then hit “Search.”

My search proves fruitful! I have found the article and a link to a PDF version of the document. All I need to do is click on the PDF icon and download.

That was easy! All I have to do now is push print, read, and decide if this source will be useful for (a) developing my own thought about the novel or (b) informing me of the critical conversation surrounding Morrison’s recent novel.