Tuesday 11 December 2007

Research: Website of the Week: JStor

This is the first post in an ongoing endeavour to highlight useful research tools and websites of interest to those of us in the American Studies field. If you look in the sidebar to the right, you can see that there are two links already in existence. The first is a link to the British Association for American Studies. The second is a link to one of the only other American Studies blogs in existence, The Atlantic Community, run by graduate students based in Denmark who got in touch through the blog. Both, in their own way, contain much that is of interest.

But we need more, and so the challenge is thrown open to you. Have you come across a website or a research tool that you think others should know about? Let us know in the comments or via e-mail, and we'll feature them in the weeks to come.

To get the ball rolling, this week the spotlight falls on JStor. Perhaps Jstor needs no introduction, since it is arguably the leading online journal website. But if you haven't yet come across it in your research, you're missing a trick. For those working in the field of American Studies, it provides access to an important list of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals, including American Literature and the Journal of American History. What's more, unlike other online journal hosts, what you'll see is an image of the original journal page, so it's a good as seeing a hard copy. If you're on campus, you have full access. If you're off campus, you can access the site with an Athens password. If you don't yet have one, then ask for one at the library.

2 comments:

Stuart Noble said...

Thanks for the mention. David Nye has just joined our ranks with his own blog, After the American Century. For more, see; American Studies in Blogistan.

Tom Matrullo said...

JSTOR is indeed a major resource. Please consider the real-world value of extending its scope by allowing it to be accessed outside subscribing university walls via micropayments.