InfoGuides: PHAR 301 Race, Civil Rights, and Photography in America: Databases: Finding images, news, scholarly articles, and more

Last Updated: Mar 27, 2024 5:57 PM

Databases

The databases below will provide access to resources specific to this course. They can be less overwhelming than the library's default Summon search! Some tips to keep in mind:

Think critically about search terms and try different permutations.
- For example, you may find different articles searching "race”, "Black", and/or "African American".
- If you are looking for information on specific events, think about dates, locations, people and organizations involved, etc.
Keep a list where you document what terms you searched and where (in which database, catalog, website, etc.) you searched them
Use Boolean operators to construct a powerful search

Smart Searching: Boolean Search

Newspapers

Newspapers are an important primary source. Use these historic newspaper collections to see what journalists and editorial writers were saying about events depicted in photographs at the time the photographs were taken.

ProQuest Historical Newspapers -- Black Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Use this database to research and explore everyday life and major events as written about in the Chicago Defender, The Baltimore Afro-American, New York Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, Los Angeles Sentinel, Atlanta Daily World, and more.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers -- U.S. Northeast Collection This link opens in a new window
This collection covers 19 northeast regional newspapers including the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle from 1871 - 2011, the newspaper of record for the Rochester region.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times with Index This link opens in a new window
This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time. The Historical New York Times with Index provides search capability using subject terms and topics for focused and targeted results in combination with searchable full text, full page, and article-level images from the Historical New York Times.

Image Collections

Associated Press Images Collection This link opens in a new window
Photo archive containing the Associated Press' photos, most since 1995, and a selection of pictures from their image library.
ARTstor This link opens in a new window
Artstor includes over 2 million images covering art, architecture, archaeology, and photography; all available for use in research and teaching. Images come with high-quality metadata from collection catalogers, curators, institutions, and artists themselves. Please note: As of August 1, 2024, Artstor's content, key resources, and functionality will be available on JSTOR. The stand-alone Artstor website will be retired. Most Artstor content is already available on JSTOR and can be accessed via https://ezproxy.rit.edu/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/images. DONATED: From the C. B. Neblette Collection on Photography and Reprography and a gift from Harold R. and Marian Condit.

Journal Databases

These databases will point you to secondary sources on historical moments, people, processes, and themes. Use the filters to identify scholarly journal articles as well as magazine articles that will provide important context and additional images for your research.

Academic Search Elite This link opens in a new window
A general research database with lots of good historical content.
Proquest Complete This link opens in a new window
All-in-1 database that provides coverage for nearly all academic areas of study including arts, business, humanities, health, social sciences, sciences and current affairs. Basic Search Demo and Advanced Search Demo. The advanced video is from 2015 but the concepts still apply.
Art & Architecture Source This link opens in a new window
Art & Architecture Source is the largest full-text art research database covering fine, decorative and commercial art, as well as architecture and architectural design. It includes hundreds of full-text art journals, magazines and books.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Features full-text articles (backfiles) of more than 2,800 academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Access includes content from the primary sources collections, multidisciplinary collections, and discipline specific collections. JSTOR also features multimedia content and includes Artstor, a cross-disciplinary collection of over 2 million images for use in research and teaching.

Additional Databases

All Visual Arts Databases
Not finding what you need with the resources above? Try one of the library's other 25+ arts databases.
History Databases
Check out this link to view a more extensive list of databases with scholarly articles related to history.