Library Class and Subject Guides: GER 150W: Topics in German Studies: Getting Started

Siegfried and Kriemhild

Define Your Topic

Use the following resources to find articles to help you select an idea or support your research topic.

Choose a Research Topic
Selecting a research topic is possibly the most difficult part of doing research. This short page from UC Santa Cruz provides useful tips for formulating a topic.
Tips for Writing Thesis Statements

Find General Articles

MavScholar
Discover library resources using a Google-like search. Results will include journal articles, electronic and print books, and many other resources available from the Library or through Inter-library Loan.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Provides citations and abstracts to articles, as well as full text of articles from over 4,600 publications, covering almost every academic subject.
This resource is provided by the Electronic Library of Minnesota, freely accessible to anyone in Minnesota!
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
A definitive index for the study of language, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film.

Other General Resources

Project MUSE and JSTOR may also be worth searching if the resources above provide little fodder for your topic. The majority of the journal content in these two repositories are often indexed in the tools above, but you may want to browse through whole journals.

Project MUSE has Goethe Yearbook | Journal of English and Germanic Philology | Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies | Women in German Yearbook: Feminist Studies in German Literature & Culture

JSTOR has back issues for many of these journals in addition to a few others.

Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
A collection of journals and eBooks covering essential humanities, social sciences, and other topics.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Access all JSTOR archival journal collections, now also including Sustainability, Public Health, Security Studies, and more.