Middle School/Upper School Research: Reference/Journals
About Reference Sources
1. Start your research with general reference source to build your background information. Use encyclopedias and Wikipedia to get a general overview of your topic, click around to related topics, and think about your general area of focus. Write down a few general keywords to use in your next stage.
2. Move on to a specialized encyclopedia or biography collection. These are reference sources written by scholars in the field-- the topics are still overviews, but more specific. Depending on your assignment, you may be done here. If you are moving on to journals or periodicals, write down names, events, and terms to use.
3. Use your specialized keywords to search in a database. Databases can contain journal articles, periodical articles, book reviews, images, and more.
OpenAthens
- OpenAthens login This link opens in a new window
Click here for the "classic view" with all of the Brearley subscription databases!
General Reference Sources
- Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
- World Book Online This link opens in a new window
- SIRS Discoverer This link opens in a new window
- Britannica School This link opens in a new window
- Oxford English Dictionary Online This link opens in a new window
Art Reference Sources
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- Grove Art Online from Oxford University Press This link opens in a new window
History Reference Sources
Specialized Encyclopedias and Biography Collections:
- Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
- Cengage Learning This link opens in a new window
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
- American National Biography Online This link opens in a new window
- Biography in Context (NYPL) This link opens in a new window
Provides biographical information on 650,000+ people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines.
Databases:
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
- Infobase Modern World History This link opens in a new window
Modern World History offers a comprehensive look at world history from the mid-15th century to the present. Thousands of subject entries, biographies, images, videos and slideshows, maps and graphs, primary sources, and timelines combine to provide a detailed and comparative view of the people, places, events, and ideas that have defined modern world history. - Infobase Issues and Controversies in American History This link opens in a new window
This database delivers dynamic, concise, and balanced coverage that provides the background, outcome, and contemporary points of view for every major debate and conflict in American history. All articles feature multiple primary sources, essential to understanding our nation’s past. In addition, all articles have been indexed to key subjects such as immigration, politics and government, race and civil rights, religion, war and military, and more. - Infobase Ancient & Medieval History This link opens in a new window
- Project MUSE (NYPL) This link opens in a new window
- The African American Experience: The American Mosaic (NYPL) This link opens in a new windowFull-text digital resource exploring the history and culture of African Americans, as well as the greater Black Diaspora.
- Latino American Experience (NYPL) This link opens in a new windowCovers history and culture from all the countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Iberian Peninsula, including content on modern-day Latin American countries, the history of the Hispanic Diaspora, and indigenous peoples. Features peer-reviewed essays, reference sources, primary documents, media, newspapers, and magazines.
- Archives of Sexuality & Gender (NYPL) This link opens in a new windowContains 51 digitized archival collections exploring LGBTQ history and culture since 1940.
Science Reference Sources
- Science Direct This link opens in a new window
- Science.gov
Science.gov searches over 60 databases and over 2,200 scientific websites to provide users with access to more than 200 million pages of authoritative federal science information including research and development results.
- MedLine (NYPL) This link opens in a new window
MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. - Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
- Teen Health & Wellness This link opens in a new window
- Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine This link opens in a new window
Features more than 2,500 full-text periodicals, reference books, pamphlets, and hundreds of videos demonstrating medical procedures and live surgeries. - Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
