Research Guides @ Fordham: Immigration: Finding Books &amp; Articles

Background Information via Reference Databases

Consulting reference sources (encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks) can help you understand a topic and generate keywords to use when searching for books and articles.

Credo Reference - Academic Core This link opens in a new window
Full text of hundreds of reference books including encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and handbooks.
U.S. History (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
Includes a mix of scholarly content on significant events, topics, and people in U.S. history.

Image credit: "Ellis Island, New York" postcard via New York Public Library Digital Collections.

Understanding Different Types of Sources

Unsure about how to identify different types of sources? Consult these resources for help:

Try this short tutorial from the library covering Articles & Databases for a quick refresher on types of sources.

Consult this explanation of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Sources from Choosing and Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research by OSU Libraries.

Confused about scholarly and peer reviewed articles? Watch Peer Review in 3 Minutes by NCSU Libraries for quick explanation.

You can always chat live with a librarian to get research help as well.

Terminology & Keywords

Finding Scholarly Articles with Library Databases

Library databases aggregate content from journals, magazines, and newspapers. For a wider search across many publications on a topic, trying using a library database to search for articles.

America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Index to history of U.S. and Canada comprising nearly 2,000 journals since 1910.
Academic Search Complete This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive multi-disciplinary full text database with thousands of periodicals and other publications.
JSTOR & ARTSTOR (WITH AI RESEARCH TOOL - BETA) This link opens in a new window
Archive of hundreds of academic journals with access to full text.
NOTE: Basic and advanced searching defaults to "read and download" content we subscribe to. Browsing defaults to "all content." Look for the Access Level limiter on the lower left side to change settings. Access excludes ebooks, Thematic Collections and Global Plants (part of Primary Sources).Fordham does not subscribe to the Constellate text/data analytics service. Users can download full datasets with up to 25,000 items. CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION.
JSTOR Subscribed Collections with Access:
Arts & Sciences I through XV, Ireland, Life Sciences, Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa, World Heritage Sites: Africa, Business IV, Hebrew Journals, Lives of Literature, Public Health, Security Studies, Sustainability, Global Plants,19th Century British Pamphlets.
ARTSTOR notes:
To go directly to Collections, use the Browse function dropdown (upper right corner) or filtering on the left side after doing a search.
Project MUSE - Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
Full text of hundreds of journals including current issues. No access to books.
ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
Full text of articles on broad range of subjects published since 1971.

Research Help

Not finding the information you need?

Chat live with a librarian to get some help.

Immigration: Finding Books & Articles

Immigration & U.S. History

Background Information via Reference Databases

Understanding Different Types of Sources

Terminology & Keywords

Finding Scholarly Articles with Library Databases

Research Help

Reference & Instruction Department