Cultural Studies

Search tip: go into Google Scholar settings and enter Trent University as a Library Link so you can make use of the 'get it' linking from within Google Scholar.

Interlibrary loan is a system that allows you to request material from other libraries to be sent to Trent for you to borrow. Normally, there are no costs to use the ILL service. Plan ahead because it can take a few days or even weeks for material to be sent, depending upon availability.

Visit the Interlibrary Loan page for more information.

Cultural Studies can involve a wide range of subject areas, so there are a lot of links on this page. Still, if your topic is better suited to another general subject (such as History, English Literature, or Women's Studies), it would be a good idea to check the links on that subject guide as well.

If you're looking specifically for journal articles, start by using one of the indexes listed. Enter some keywords to find out what's been published on your topic. Then use   to link from the citations to the articles, when possible. There are several databases in ProQuest which might be useful, so you might want to start with the ProQuest link to search many databases at once. If you don't find the results you hoped for, try altering your search terms or look in a different database. Often, undergraduate students in Cultural Studies have good luck with very general databases, such as Academic OneFile and Academic Search Elite or CBCA and CPI.Q for Canadian topics.

Under "Other Online Resources" find links to some of our more unique databases that might apply to your topic. These include primary documents, images, statistics, and specialized encyclopedias.

Rock's Backpages is a Trial Database for March 2019

The most difficult part of research is finding articles on a topic. This tutorial outlines the process.

Too few articles:

• Check for typos and spelling. Consider using both American and British spellings (eg. behaviour or behavior).
• Remove long phrases.
• Make sure you're using a database that is likely to include information on your topic.
• Try using other synonyms and alternate words joined by the Boolean Operator 'OR' (e.g. aboriginal or indigenous or First Nations).
• Check your Boolean logic.  Are you using 'AND' when you should be using 'OR'?
• If you have found at least one good article, look at the references of this article to find other related articles OR use the 'Find citing' or 'Find related' buttons when available in the databases.

Too many articles:

• Add another concept to your searching using the Boolean operator 'AND'.
• Add Limits (e.g. Peer Reviewed, Date of Publication, Language, Publication Type, etc.).
• Check your Boolean logic. Are you using 'OR' when you should be using 'AND'?
• When Keyword searching, try searching just in the Title field. This is not recommended for all searches, as you will eliminate relevant articles that don't have those keywords in the title, but it will likely find a few articles to get you started.
• If you're searching in a database that covers all subjects (e.g. Academic Search Elite, Web of Knowledge), look for a database that is subject specific.