Create your OpenAthens account: The way you log into our digital resources has changed! To access, follow this simple two-step process to register for your new OpenAthens account using your Lander email address (Note: a confirmation link will be emailed to you).

Using Bearcat Search: Not every database will appear in your search results. Be sure to check out our standalone databases too. Learn more about how to use our new system, Bearcat Search.

Watch the brief tutorial video from Andrew Davis at University of Mississippi and download a matrix template in Word or Excel format below.

Tip! Keep an eye out for books published by university presses. This is a very good hint that the book is scholarly research appropriate for use in a college-level project.

MLA International Bibliography is a great database for locating scholarly linguistics sources, but it is a primarily an index--meaning, most of the database records are just a description/abstract of the book or article, not the full text.

• For book records, you can check Bearcat Search to see if we have a copy available.
• For article records, you can request the full text to be sent to you free via ILL at Request Articles.

Tip! A book review is not a research source. Scholarly journals often publish book reviews, which are likely to pop up in your search results. While these can be helpful for tracking down the actual book to use, do not use the review itself as your source.

Browse our Subject Guides for databases for your topic, or check out the A-Z Databases list for more options.

When choosing databases to use for your research, there are several factors to consider:

• the academic subjects covered (does your topic span outside your discipline?)
• the types of materials included (e.g. scholarly journal articles, professional reports, images of works of art, encyclopedia articles, popular magazine articles)
• the availability of full text of articles
• date range of materials covered

If you have a general topic, and are not sure where to search, it is a good idea to start in Academic Search Complete, which is a general database with some information on almost every topic.

Choosing the right database is one of the most important parts of the research process. If you are not familiar with the databases, ask a librarian for help.