Subject guides: Literary Studies: Databases

Databases overview

When to use databases

Journal articles are housed inside journals, which in turn, are kept in online databases. Search (the Library Catalogue) links directly to all three, so you can use Search to directly search for articles. However, because we subscribe to hundreds of databases, not all journal articles are accessible through Search (the Library Catalogue), and sometimes we must go directly to the databases to access a bigger range of journal articles. This is why we recommend that you start by using Search, but as your search gets more sophisticated, you move across into specific databases, such as those listed in the tabs below.

Databases for literary studies

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a comprehensive library of important scholarly literature, built by over 1,700 worldwide participants, including major Australian universities. It includes thousands of academic journals, books, and primary sources from a wide range of academic publishers and university presses. Titles span across disciplines, including core areas such as business & economics, social sciences, education, history, language & literature and science. Current journals are linked and cross-searchable with archival journals and ebooks.
MLA international bibliography (EBSCOhost) This link opens in a new window
Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the MLA International Bibliography is the definitive index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film, covering scholarly publications from the early 20th century to the present. International in scope, it includes citations to journal articles, books, articles in books, series, translations, scholarly editions, websites, and dissertations. The database also includes the MLA Directory of Periodicals and the MLA Thesaurus, a proprietary, searchable collection of thousands of subject terms, and personal names used in indexing the bibliography.