Contextual Research

What terminology or subject specific vocabulary is essential to your areas of interest? Use the Oxford English Dictionary to investigate the etymology and evolution of language as it relates to your topic.

Search the catalog for library books on your topic.

Library Catalog: Login to Destiny for your new Library Account (FCPS username/password)

eBooks and Audiobooks: These are searchable in the library catalog, but logon to MackinVIA to access eBooks & Audiobooks

Local Libraries

When using the databases, remember to target your search using Keywords with Boolean Operators in the Advanced Search Field. Doing so will make your search faster and more successful!

Questions? Just ask!

U.S. History in Context This link opens in a new window
Significant people, events and topics in U.S. History. Reference content and full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.
Global Issues in Context This link opens in a new window
International viewpoints on global issues and current events. Features Issue and Country Portals that bring together a variety of sources for analysis. Includes multimedia sources such as podcasts, video, and interactive graphs.
World History in Context This link opens in a new window
Covers significant people, events and topics in World History. Full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
eReference - Articles from encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
eBook History Collection This link opens in a new window
This collection features history titles across a variety of subjects, including History of Music, of Science, of the World, of the Holocaust, etc.

Explore the following links for quick and concise overviews:

CultureGrams This link opens in a new window
Unique, reliable cultural information for states and countries; vital statistics; maps, history, recipes, flags, and biographies.
World Religions: Belief, Culture, and Controversy This link opens in a new window
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
eReference - Articles from encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

News (Gale Onefile) This link opens in a new window
Major U.S. and international newspapers; search for full text articles by title, headline, date, newspaper section, etc. A one-stop source for current news and searchable archives.
eLibrary This link opens in a new window
Magazines, newspapers, books, television/radio transcripts, maps, pictures, and audio/video clips.

Open the Library of Congress - Research Guides by Topic and select the "reading room" of "research guide" relating to your topic.

Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
This database offers a collection of peer-reviewed, full-text journals, including academic journals, magazines, periodicals, reports, books and videos in virtually every discipline.
ProQuest Central This link opens in a new window
Articles from journals, newspapers, magazines. Includes peer-reviewed, scholarly journals for biology, computing, education, science, psychology, religion, social sciences, and many other disciplines.
Academic Onefile This link opens in a new window
Peer-reviewed full-text scholarly content across the academic disciplines. With millions of articles; authoritative and comprehensive.
Academic eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
Over 130,000 eBooks in all subject areas. Scholarly sources on the college level from university presses and academic publishers. Download these books to mobile devices!

Keywords with Boolean Operators work here, too! If you find an article and can't read the full text on Google Scholar, we may have access to the same material in the databases.

Questions? Just ask!

IB Extended Essay: Primary Text Research - Class of 2021: Contextual Research - Resources for All Topics