Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts
Overview of resources useful for research in the Liberal Arts
Introduction
This Web page has resources for doing research in the Liberal Arts. Read about the Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts major on their site.
Databases
The following databases are the ones that are most likely to be helpful to the Liberal Arts major. However, there are literally hundreds of additional databases, so you will probably be using additional databases for every assignment. Available to CSU affiliates only.
- Academic Search Premier. Coverage varies widely.
General database with coverage of nearly all subject areas to some degree. - America: History & Life. 1954- .
Historical coverage of United States, Canada, and Latin America. - Anthropology Plus. 1890- .
Core periodicals. - Art Abstracts. 1984- . See also Art Index Retrospective 1929-1984.
International art publications; periodicals, yearbooks, and museum bulletins. - Arts & Humanities Citation Index (subset of Web of Science). 1975- . CSU affiliates only. To search only this index, open the "More Settings" menu and deselect all of the other indexes before doing your search.
- ComAbstracts. Varies. Primary communication journals.
- Communication & Mass Media Complete. Varies . Mass media; journals, encyclopedias, and handbooks
- Historical Abstracts. 1954- History of the Western world from 1450 to the present.
- JSTOR. Varies widely. Multiple areas are covered. Specific subject areas can be selected that might be of interest: African American Studies; American Indian Studies, American Studies, Anthropology; Archaeology; Architecture & Architectural History; Area Studies; Art & Art History; Arts; Asian Studies; Bibliography; British Studies; Classical Studies; Communication Studies; Feminist & Women's Studies; Film; Folklore; General History; General Law; History; History of Science & Technology; Humanities; International Relations; Irish Studies; Jewish Studies; Language & Literature; Latin American Studies; Law; Linguistics; Middle East Studies; Music; Performing Arts: Philosophy; Political Science; Religion; and Slavic Studies. Other areas may also be of interest!
- MLA International Bibliography. 1969- Literary theory, folklore, modern languages and linguistics, rhetoric and composition, and more.
- Nineteenth Century Masterfile. 1800-1930. Combines over 60 subject indexes to various periodicals, books, and government documents.
- Philosopher's Index. 1940- . See also Philosophy Research Index 1400- . Covers major areas of philosophy.
- Project Muse. Varies.
Literature, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, political science, gender studies, economics, and other areas. - ScienceDirect. 1995- .
In spite of its title and description, this database has a surprising amount of content of interest to the Liberal Arts. Select "Arts and Humanities" before doing a search to eliminate the science and social science items. The remaining 58 titles cover language and cognition, writing, history, communication, and other areas. - Ulrichsweb. Current.
Information on serials published around the globe. Yellow-starred entries have a review. - WorldCat. Varies.
Search select book catalogs from around the world--using the same subject headings used here. Growing number of links to digital archives.
Full Text Databases (Contemporary and Primary Sources)
These resources are available at CSU.
- American Film Scripts Online. 1903- .
Full text of selected film scripts. - Archives Unbound. 1800-1880.
CSU currently owns 13 collections --the "Your Collections" titles; click on BROWSE>> to see complete list. - ARTstor.
Over 1 million images: arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences applicable to different times, cultures, and disciplines. Browse by geography, classification, or collection. Register to save images to folders and create PowerPoint presentations (notes included). - Colorado Historic Newspaper Collection. 1859-1922.
Images of newspapers published in Colorado. - Ethnic Newswatch. 1959- .
Newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. - Literature Criticism Online. 1400- .
Scholarly and popular commentary of literature from broadsheets, pamphlets, encyclopedias, books and periodicals. Many different kinds of writers covered, for example, journalists. - Naxos Music Library. Varies.
More than 50 classical, jazz, and world music labels. - New York Times Historical. 1851- moving wall currently 2008 or later.
Newspaper of record for the United States. - Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers. 1800-1899.
- Times Digital Archive. 1785-2008
London Times newspaper. - Women Writers Online.
Full-text of 100+ texts by English and American women published between 1500 and 1850.
Reference and Other Books
These materials are available online to CSU affiliates only.
- 21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook. 2009.
Covers a lot of territory regarding communication: discipline; approaches to the study of; key processes; forms and types; characteristics of messages; in relationships; factors affecting it; challenges and opportunities; media; as a profession; journalism; public relations; advertising; and media management. - ACLS Humanities Ebook Collection. Varies.
Approximately 4,300 high quality books. - Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online.
- Oxford Art Online (Grove's). 1976- .
Dictionary of Art and Oxford Companion to Western Art with updates and new material. - Oxford Reference.
Overviews; subject reference; timelines; quotes; dictionaries, and other books. - New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online.
Archival Materials
There are many beneficial materials to be found in the archival collections.
- Digital Collections.
Online access to images, documents, audio and video. - Digital Collections at CSU (includes link to archival materials just above). Digital Repository.
Divided by CSU departments and schools, colleges, centers and research institutes, theses and dissertations, conference proceedings and events, journal publications, student research projects, etc.
Topical Guides of Potential Interest
Look over these guides to find items of potential interest.
- Book Review Indexing Sources
- Films/Movies
- United States of America (History). American History.
- World War I
Guides to all majors the in Liberal Arts:
Resources for Specific LB Courses
Your Librarian

Renae Watson
Schedule a virtual research consultation
Ask Me About:
- Finding articles, books, & more
- Citing sources
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- Information literacy instruction
Contact:
Chat office hours: Tues 2-4pm
E: renae.watson@colostate.edu
Ph: 970-491-5338
Or, schedule a virtual consultation
E: renae.watson@colostate.edu
Ph: 970-491-5338
Or, schedule a virtual consultation