Once you have a better idea of the background of your topic and the specific question or area you want to research, you can narrow your search and start to find what other researchers have written on your topic. Keep in mind that you're not trying to find an article that answers your question. Rather, you're trying to find research that other people have done that informs you about specific aspects of your topic, and so you can better understand the different theories and ideas that have been published on your topic. Your job is to connect the dots and put together different information to propose something new.
OneSearch is a great place to get started when looking for articles, books, and book chapters. Think about the key ideas and main ideas of your topic and search for these key ideas either separately or together. Consider broader terms and synonyms, as well.
Use this form to search OneSearch. You can choose whether to search keywords, or look for a specific title, author, or subject term. You can also narrow down to the type of item you're looking for.
If you've never used OneSearch, you may want to review this video to get a quick overview on how to search effectively in OneSearch.
OneSearch contains most, but not all, of the article content that the library has access to. To be more thorough in your search, you will probably want to search some subject-specific databases. These databases are indexes of scholarly (and some non-scholarly) publications in specific subject areas. Most of them contain the full-text of articles, but not all, so you may need to do some sleuthing to get access to the articles, but you will probably find much more relevant research on your topic in databases. Here are just a few you may want to check out.
Covers all aspects of indigenous North American culture, history, and life, including archaeology, multicultural relations, gaming, governance, legend, and literacy.
Index of bibliographic materials from the late 1800s to present in the fields of social, cultural, physical, biological, and linguistic anthropology; ethnology, archaeology, folklore, and material culture; and interdisciplinary studies.
JSTOR is an archive of full-text scholarship, digital collections, and digital images. As of August 2024, all Artstor content has been moved to JSTOR. JSTOR includes content from disciplines across the humanities, social sciences, arts, and sciences.