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Death Class: HISTH 2322 & PHILH 2306: Research

Prof. Truax & Prof. Voss (Fall 2024)

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Specific Databases to Check

The library's new search tool makes it easier to look across the entire collection!

However, sometimes it's still better to just go straight to a specific database -- because you know it has the type of content you need and you don't want to fiddle with lots of filters to exclude everything else.

Selected E-Books

Virtual Afterlives: Grieving the Dead in the Twenty-First Century
Do Funerals Matter? The Purposes and Practices of Death Rituals in Global Perspective
Funerals in Africa: Explorations of a Social Phenomenon
Invisible Population: The Place of the Dead in East-Asian Megacities
Death, Dying, and Bereavement
The Interweaving of Rituals: Funerals in the Cultural Exchange between China and Europe
Necropolitics: Mass Graves and Exhumations in the Age of Human Rights

Which Sources Provide What Information

If you're looking for...

These can honestly come from anywhere: your research will cumulatively build on itself, and anything can be inspirational or insightful. That said, there's definitely some better places to get started.

  • Books/E-Books
  • Wikipedia
  • Credo Reference
  • Google search
  • Textbooks
  • Advanced: scholarly literature reviews
  • News or magazine articles
  • Reputable websites
  • Textbooks
  • Documentaries
  • Government sites (Google: term site:.gov)
  • Organization sites (Google: term site:.org) - caution! Check the reputation and purpose of an organization.
  • News stories

This is where scholarly sources really shine: they're nothing but deep dive. (Though in the case of journals -- not every part is scholarly. Back and Front Matter and Book Reviews are a couple common sections that are more tertiary.) Use the library databases foremost to locate. Other options: Google Scholar, ResearchGate, inter-library loan requests.

Depending on your topic, there may be in-depth news reporting on the subject.

Books can be pretty good at this, too, and surprisingly overlooked!

  • News stories
  • Social media (with huge, obvious caveats about verified accounts and the need for fact-checking)

Accessing the Databases

Access online library materials through the library databases!

To access the databases locked icon (same icon that displays by the LSC-limited access resources) from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your LSC email/password or your 14-digit library barcode.