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Northeast Illinois Documents Librarians (NIDL)-Member Collections related to Native American & Indigenous Studies

Research Databases

The databases listed below (in alphabetical order) provide access to a range of research materials which may include newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, e-books, government publications.  Remote access to databases is typically available only to those who are affiliated with that institution or library (for example have a library card or, in the case of universities, are currently enrolled or employed).  However, guests typically can access these databases when visiting the library in person.  There are exceptions so review guest access information on the What Why and Where tab of this guide and call ahead if you have questions.


  • Alternative Press Index
    • Alternative Press Index is a biannual subject index to over 300 alternative, left, and radical journals, newspapers, and magazines. The index is international and interdisciplinary, spanning the social sciences and humanities, with its central focus on the practice and theory of socialism, national liberation, labor, indigenous peoples, gays/lesbians, feminism, ecology, democracy, and anarchism.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • American Indian Newspapers
    • Presents the publications of a range of communities, with an extensive list of periodicals produced in the United States and Canada from 1828 to 2016. Representing a huge variety in style, production and audience, the newspapers include national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications. This digital collection provides exciting research opportunities into a range of subjects from an Indigenous perspective, including the civil rights era and American Indian Movement (AIM), education, environmentalism, land rights and cultural representation. This resource has been developed with, and has only been made possible by, the permission and contribution of the newspaper publishers and Tribal Councils concerned.
    • AVAILABLE AT :   Northwestern University Libraries
  • America: History & Life
    • An index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. The database indexes journals from 1964 to the present and also includes citations and links to book and media reviews. Strong English-language journal coverage but also included are abstracts in English of articles published in more than 40 languages.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Anthropology Plus
    • The most comprehensive index of anthropological materials. Unites two premier indexes created in two hemispheres: Harvard University's Anthropological Literature and the Royal Anthropological Institute's Anthropological Index. Coverage: 1800s to today.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Art & Architecture Source
    • Provides indexing and abstracting for journals, magazines and books covering topics, including art in all media, art history and criticism, architecture, archaeology, museum studies, graphic arts and advertising, product design, interior design, costume and set design, and television, video, & film from all parts of the world and all periods of time. Covers sources from 1914 to the present with selected full text.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • Bibliography of Native North America
    • Covers all aspects of native North American culture, history, and life, including archaeology, multicultural relations, gaming, governance, legend, and literacy. Provides citations for books, essays, journal articles, and government documents of the United States and Canada from the sixteenth century to the present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • EconLit
    • EconLit, the American Economic Association's electronic database, is a comprehensive index to the literature of economics. This database provides citations to journal articles, books, chapters in edited volumes, working papers, dissertations, and book reviews, with selected abstracts and some full-text content. Covers the 1880s-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Education Abstracts
    • Education Abstracts brings you comprehensive coverage of an international range of English-language periodicals, monographs and yearbooks. Covers 1983-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • eHRAF Archeology
    • Provides researchers and students access to archaeological materials for comparative studies within and across regions. Documents are indexed at the paragraph level using the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM), and can be browsed by subject or by archaeological tradition. The database can also be searched using a number of criteria.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • eHRAF World Cultures
    • A collection of full-text primary source materials (mainly published books and articles, and some unpublished manuscripts) on selected cultures or societies representing all major areas of the world. It focuses on pre-industrial cultures and on North American immigrant groups. Searchable and browseable by culture and subject, the files are indexed at the paragraph-level with over 700 subject codes from the Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM)
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • ERIC
    • Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to provide extensive access to education-related literature, including pedagogy, counseling and psychology. Covers 1966-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Chicago Public Library, Illinois Institute of Technology,  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Ethnic Newswatch
    • Indexes newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic and minority press, offering both national and regional coverage. Ethnic NewsWatch presents multi-ethnic and multi-cultural publications in one resource covering 1959-present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Gender Studies Database
    • Combines the Women's Studies International and Men's Studies databases with the coverage of sexual diversity issues. GSD covers the full spectrum of gender-engaged scholarship.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • Global Health
    • A public health database that provides information on international health, biomedical life sciences, non-communicable diseases, public health nutrition, food safety and hygiene, and much more. This database contains more than 1.2 million records dating back to 1973.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • PsycINFO
    • Produced by the American Psychological Association, this database is a comprehensive index to the professional and academic literature in psychology, counseling and related disciplines. Covers 1860-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Illinois Institute of Technology,  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries; University of Illinois at Chicago
  • MedLine
    • The MEDLINE database is widely recognized as the premier source for bibliographic and abstract coverage of biomedical literature. MEDLINE encompasses information from Index Medicus, Index to Dental Literature, and International Nursing, as well as other sources of coverage in the areas of allied health, biological and physical sciences, humanities and information science as they relate to medicine and health care, communication disorders, population biology, and reproductive biology.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Chicago Public Library, Illinois Institute of Technology,  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, Poplar Creek Public Library, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Music Periodicals Database
    • Use to find articles in music journals. It enables you to access articles on a comprehensive variety of musical subjects, styles, and genres. Covers 1874-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Chicago Public Library, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries
  • PAIS International
    • Index focusing on public affairs, public and social policies and international relations. Provides references to journal articles, books, government documents, statistics, grey literature, research reports, conference papers, and more. Covers 1914 to present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • PubMed
    • PubMed was developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). It was developed in conjunction with publishers of biomedical literature as a search tool for accessing literature citations and linking to full-text journals at web sites of participating publishers.
    • AVAILABLE AT: Illinois Institute of Technology, Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago,
  • Race Relations Abstracts
    • Race Relations Abstracts provides a sole focus on content relating specifically to the relationship between races. Race relations is an area of study that pertains to the social, political and economic relations between races and ethnicities. 1975-Present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
    • AVAILABLE AT: Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago,
  • Scopus
    • Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database, including peer-reviewed titles from international publishers, Open Access journals, conference proceedings, trade publications, quality web sources. Subject coverage : Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics and Engineering ; Life and Health Sciences ; Social Sciences, Psychology and Economics ; Biological, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
    • AVAILABLE AT: Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Social Sciences Abstracts
    • Indexing and abstracts of more than 770 periodicals, nearly 700 of which are peer-reviewed. Among these are many of the most important English-language social science journals. It offers coverage dating back to 1972.
    • AVAILABLE AT: Northeastern Illinois University, 
  • Social Services Abstracts
    • Provides citations of current research focused on social work, human services, mental health services, social welfare, social policy, community development, and more. Covers 1979-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT: Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Sociological Abstracts
    • Provides citations and abstracts to international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Content coverage includes culture and social structure, history and theory of sociology, race and ethnicity, social change and economic development, and more. 1952-Present. Individual publication coverage varies by title.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northeastern Illinois University, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago
  • Urban Studies Abstracts
    • Provides citations covering areas related to urban studies, including urban affairs, community development, urban history, and other areas of key relevance to the discipline. Covers1973-present.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries,
  • Web of Science
    • Multidisciplinary coverage of over 10,000 journals in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities, as well as published proceedings for over 12,000 conferences per year, and over 50,000 scholarly books.Powerful tools allow you to search and see what articles in the database have cited a particular work, as well as perform other analytics.
    • AVAILABLE AT:  Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University Libraries, University of Illinois at Chicago