BU Libraries Search
- BU Libraries Search This link opens in a new window
BU Libraries Search provides a single place to search for a wide variety of research material provided by the library. Resources covered by the search includes books and eBooks, journals, scores and sheet music, video and audio recordings, and other physical and electronic items held by the library. Coverage encompasses materials relating to the prehistoric and antique world through to the present.
To find books and eBooks in the BU Libraries collections, use BU Libraries Search. Enter some keywords describing your research topic in the search bar and select the Books option to narrow your results to only books and eBooks.
Get Started in BU Libraries Search
Library databases like BU Libraries Search work best when you use a technique called keyword searching. This type of searching is different than using a tool like Google where you can put a full research question in the search bar and still get results.
What to know:
- Keywords are what you type into the search bar
- Good keywords help you find resources for your project
- Generate keywords by identifying core concepts from your research question (i.e. time, place, event, media, people)
Examples related to American Misfits:
Browse Theory Books
Compelled to Write by Publication Date: 2011-01-01David Wallace argues that any understanding of writing studies must include the conception of discourse as an embodied force with real consequences for real people. Informed in important ways by queer theory, Wallace calls to account users of dominant discourses and at the same time articulates a theory base from which to interpret "alternative rhetoric."
American Film and Society Since 1945 by ISBN: 9781440833229Publication Date: 2018-04-19One of the few authoritative books about American film and society, American Film and Society since 1945 combines accessible, fun-to-read text with a detailed, insightful, and scholarly political and social analysis that thoroughly explores the relationship of American film to society and provides essential historical context.
A Political Companion to Herman Melville by ISBN: 9780813143897Publication Date: 2014-01-07This unique volume explores Melville's politics by surveying the full range of his work--from Typee (1846) to the posthumously published Billy Budd (1924). The contributors give historical context to Melville's writings and place him in conversation with political and theoretical debates, examining his relationship to transcendentalism and contemporary continental philosophy and addressing his work's relevance to topics such as nineteenth-century imperialism, twentieth-century legal theory, the anti-rent wars of the 1840s, and the civil rights movement.
Why use articles & journals?
Journal articles are much shorter than books, usually only 5-30 pages, which means they have a much narrower focus. Articles cover a focused, niche topic at a highly detailed level. Journals aren't the best place to find contextual or background information, but they are a great source to use to find the most recent academic information about a topic.
Journals contain articles about a shared topic. Articles are written by different authors who may not have anything in common besides their research interest. The highest quality journals require a peer review process where other scholars in the disciple review each others work to verify the rigor of the research before publication.
Search for Articles
Use the following databases to search for academic journal articles. (For more article resources, please consult the Literature Research Guide.)
- America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
Covers the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada from prehistory to present times; indexes journal articles, book titles and chapters, reviews from numerous multilingual sources; all abstracts in English.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This database provides full text access to the back issues of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Book reviews are included as well as journal articles. Abstracts are available for some of the articles.
- Literature Online This link opens in a new window
LION includes texts, criticism, and reference material, including thousands of literary articles, essays, biographies and encyclopedia entries on over 350,000 works of poetry, prose, and drama from the 8th to the 21st century.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes critical materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Includes citations from worldwide publications: periodicals, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations and bibliographies.
- Women's Studies International This link opens in a new window
Women's Studies International indexes women's studies, women's issues and gender-focused journal and magazine articles, books and book chapters, dissertations and reports worldwide.
