LibGuides: African American Poets & Poetry: Articles (Databases)

About Databases

What is a Database?

A database is a collection of articles which are accessible online, but which (in most cases) first appeared in print sources such as scholarly journals, magazines written for the general public, or newspapers. The articles have been placed online so that they can be easily searched and accessed.

A database normally lets you search for articles in a variety of ways, including by keyword, subject or author. Some of the articles you retrieve will in actuality only be article abstracts, or summaries. Other articles will appear in full-text form, meaning the entire article is available to you. Most databases have a full-text option you can choose so that only full-text articles will appear in your search results.

For a short overview of databases, check out this 4 minute video.

You can also go to an alphabetical listing of all the databases offered by STLCC Libraries.

Suggested Databases

The following is a list of databases that will guide you to up-to-date periodical articles. You can refer to Find a Book or Article as these tips will also be useful in your search of databases. You can also see a complete listing of STLCC Library databases. Please ask a reference librarian for assistance in your search.

A database normally lets you search for articles in a variety of ways, including by keyword, subject or author. (See Find a Book or Article.) Some of the articles you retrieve will only be article abstracts, or summaries. Other articles will appear in full-text form, meaning the entire article is available to you. Most databases have a full-text option you can choose so that only full-text articles will appear in your search results.

Columbia Granger's World of Poetry This link opens in a new window
Index to poetry including 250,000 poems in full text.
First published in 1904, Granger's has been the definitive source in English for locating a poem in anthologies on library shelves. The online version includes full text of 250,000 poems, biographies of poets, and a series of key Columbia poetry titles: The Classic Hundred Poems -- a fully annotated anthology of the one hundred poems that, in the Granger's database, are most frequently anthologized; The Top 500 Poems -- an annotated anthology of the 500 poems that, in the Granger's database, are most frequently anthologized; The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Anthologies, editions 8-12 -- an index to poetry in anthologies; The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in Collected and Selected Works, editions 1-2 -- an index to poems in the other main type of poetry book found on library shelves; and The Columbia Granger's Index to African-American Poetry -- an index to 65 volumes of the best poetry by African Americans.

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Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Information on literature from all time periods and genres.
Gale Literary Sources brings together Gale's literary databases in one interface.

Gale Literary Sources includes the databases Literature Criticism Online, LitFinder, Literature Resource Center, Something About the Author Online and two additional e-books from the Gale Virtual Reference Collection -- The Encyclopedia of World Biography and the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture.

The Literature Criticism Online database includes the titles Children's Literature Review, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Drama Criticism, and Short Story Criticism.

LitFinder provides access to literary works and authors throughout history and includes more than 150,000 full-text poems and 800,000+ poetry citations, as well as short stories, speeches, and plays. The database also includes secondary materials like biographies, images, and more.

The Literature Resource Center database includes Contemporary Authors Online; Contemporary Literary Criticism Select; and Dictionary of Literary Biography Online. Also includes selected full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material from Gale's Literature Criticism and For Students series. The titles in these series include: Children's Literature Review, Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism, Drama Criticism, Drama for Students, Literature from 1400 to 1800, Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism, Literature of Developing Nations for Students, Literature and Its Times, Novels for Students, Poetry Criticism, Poetry for Students, Shakespearean Criticism, Shakespeare for Students, Short Story Criticism, Short Stories for Students, and Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Access to current, full-text critical essays on major authors from prominent literary journals.

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Academic OneFile (Gale) This link opens in a new window
Extensive coverage of all academic disciplines.
Extensive coverage of all academic disciplines including astronomy, religion, law, history, psychology, humanities, current events, sociology, communications and the general sciences. Indexing is from 1977; full-text coverage from 1983. Academic OneFile also includes peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources, full indexing of some of the world's greatest newspapers, and access to wire services covering worldwide current events. Millions of articles available in both PDF and HTML, including full-text coverage of the New York Times since 1995.

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Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
A leading multidisciplinary research database. It provides acclaimed full-text journals, magazines and other valuable resources.
Academic Search Premier includes 4645 magazines and journals in full text, of which 3855 are peer-reviewed. The database indexes and abstracts a total of18,999 magazines & journals.

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System Requirements

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While anyone can use the STLCC Library Databases on campus, only current students, faculty, and staff may use the databases off-campus.

For help with off-campus database access, visit the Connecting From Hom e page.

African American Poets & Poetry

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About Databases

What is a Database?

Suggested Databases

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