Search for information
Search Belk Library's online system to find both library materials and articles in our databases. Use the search box below to do a basic search on library materials and databases.
Find Articles in Databases
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowHistorical Abstracts covers modern world history (excluding the United States and Canada which are covered in America: History and Life) from 1450 to the present.
- America: History & Life This link opens in a new windowIndexes and abstracts the world's scholarly literature in the history of the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowJSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources. Coverage includes history, economics, political science, demography, mathematics, humanities and social sciences. Some current issues are available now.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowIndex to scholarly research pertaining to literature, language, linguistics, and folklore, 1963-present.
- ATLA with ATLASerials This link opens in a new windowIndex and selected full-text from international titles and multi-author works related to the field of religion.
- Religion Database This link opens in a new windowReligious news and information, informative details on doctrines and philosophies, and scholarly reports on religious history and related archaeology.
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new windowIndex to journals in psychology and related disciplines, 1887-present.
- SocINDEX w/Full Text This link opens in a new windowThe most comprehensive and highest-quality sociology research database. The database features millions of records with subject headings from a sociological thesaurus designed by subject experts and expert lexicographers.
- Databases listed by subjectI can't list all of them! But if your topic doesn't seem covered by the databases listed above, click here to find more possibilities.
Google Scholar
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
In the humanities, a primary source is one created at the time of an event, with first-hand evidence. It can be in any format - a book, a newspaper article, an image, an interview (written or YouTube!), an object. It depends on your topic.
A secondary source discusses and comments on a primary source. These are usually articles and books that are written AFTER the event.
For example: an article about the Civil War from Harper's Weekly in 1865 is a primary source. An article from Harper's Magazine in 2022 about the Civil War is a secondary source.
(In science, a primary source is an original research study; but again it's first-hand evidence, not a summary of someone else's paper.)
- Primary vs. Secondary SourcesGood definition from Ithaca College Library
Some suggested primary sources
A number of early modern texts have been digitized (and some even transcribed and translated!) Here are just a few:
- UK's National Archive Early Modern Witch TrialsA collection for teachers that includes texts and transcriptions of 17th century witchcraft documents.
- Salem Witch Trials ArchiveAlso linked in your syllabus - maps, court records, and links to other archives.
- Cornell University Witchcraft CollectionUnfortunately these documents are not transcribed but several are in English.
- Early English Books Online This link opens in a new windowDigital images of books printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700.