The first stop for periodical article searching (including articles from academic peer-reviewed journals, magazines and newspapers) is the articles+ feature on the Princeton University Library homepage. articles+ searches many of Princeton's database subscriptions simultaneously, which has the advantage of federating multiple searches into a single search, and the potential disadvantage of often producing unmanageably large volumes of retrievals. Fortunately, the system provides a dashboard of filters and parameters which can be adjusted in order to winnow overwhelming lists consisting mostly of out-of-scope retrievals down to more compact lists with a much higher concentration of relevant material. Another strategy for targeting relevant material more narrowly is to be more selective at the database level. Below are links to databases grouped by discipline or subject matter. Many of these individual databases feature their own interfaces for strategically refining searches.
The aggregated searching of articles+ is a great point of departure and allows you to cast a wide net. Because it uses a single interface to search so many different databases, however, some of the more nuanced search capabilities of discipline or subejct-specific databses are lost. For other somewhat more manageable federated searching try one of the following two database suites, each of which is fitted with sophisticated search interfaces and dashboards of filters which can be applied to target the desired material as specifically as possible:
EBSCO Host Academic Search Premier
Academic Search Premier is one of a suite of approximately 80 humanities and social science indexing databases which can be searched selectively or simultaneously through a single interface. To access the full list of databases, engage the "Choose Databases" link on the upper left-hand side of the screen. EBSCO's humanities coverage is somewhat more comprehensive than ProQuest's.
ProQuest Central
ProQuest Central is another suite of humanities and social science indexing databases, providing better coverage of the journalistic press than does EBSCO. ProQuest also indexes dissertations and theses. As with EBSCO's Academic Search Premier, the default in ProQuest Central is a search of a small subset of the more than 200 database in the suite. To open the database list, engage the link in the top left of the screen. It is often useful to search the whole suite together, although this may require nimble and strategic formulation of search queries.
All major US newspapers (and many major foreign newspapers) are indexed by ProQuest and that content can be searched there. Princeton students also have access to the online editions of The New York Times, The The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
For more narrowly targeted searching you may want to search individual databases in the appropriate categories. E.g.:
Anthropology
Art & Archaeology
Comparative Literature
Dance
Economics & Finance
English & American Literature
Film Studies
History
Music
Politics
Population Research
Religion
Sociology
Theater
For other areas consult the full database by-subject list
