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MENA Databases: Bibliographic Databases

An introduction to using databases and other electornic resources for MENA studies research at UIUC.

These are databases which primarily contain citation information for articles, books, and other resources related to a certain subject. Sometimes, they also provide links to the full-text of cited items if it is available in a connected database.

 

Other Useful Guides

Databases

Usage

For usage information, see the guide to EBSCO's search engine on the "Full Text Databases" section of this LibGuide.

AfricaBib is a multi-collection databse which offers cataloging of African writing across a number of genres, formats, and time periods. It is the most extensive Africa-focused bibliographic database available to UIUC. UIUC has access to AfricaBib through multiple different collections, which are linked above.

Usage

To access AfricaBib's search function, click the link titled "To search the database click here".

africabib's search link

Booleans:

Boolean searching is not supported on AfricaBib. All search terms separated by whitespaced are searched additively. In other words, each term is connected by an implied "AND" - all search terms must match for a result to appear.

Wildcards:

AfricaBib only supports the * wildcard, indicating zero or more unknown characters. Wildcards within quoted phrases are read literally and have no subtitution effect.

Quoting:

Quoted phrases are treated as a single search term, regardless of internal whitespace. An asterisk * inside a quoted term is read literally as an asterisk instead of a wildcard.

Further Notes:

  • There are two different search forms available, the default search form and the extendes search form. To access the extended search form, first go to the default search form,then click "Extended search form" in the upper right corner.
  • More information about how to use AfricaBib's search engine is available on AfricaBib's "Frequently Asked Questions" page