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English Research Guide

Welcome ENG 1A students!

This resource guide will help you:

  • Locate library databases that contain newspaper, scholarly/peer-reviewed, and magazine articles.
  • Utilize strategies to search for articles in a library database.
  • Locate other suggested resources to assist with MLA style and selecting a research topic.

Suggested Library Databases

Looking for more databases to choose from?
Check out PCC Library's full list of databases on the A-Z Database List page.

Library Database Search Tips

Brainstorm and enter your search terms into the keyword search box to start a search. For example:

  • redlining
  • housing discrimination
  • affordable housing

Use AND to focus your search on a smaller result set. For example:

  • redlining AND Pasadena
  • affordable housing AND Los Angeles
  • redlining AND minorities
  • housing discrimination AND Black families

Use quotation marks to search on specific phrases:

  • "mortgage discrimination"
  • "Fair Housing Act"

Use filters to further refine your results. For example:

  • use the "journals" or "articles" filter to display only the scholarly article content
  • use the date filter to enter a date range

Link to Octavia Butler's Kindred

Selecting a Research Topic

Looking for a research topic? Check out this Browse Issues page from a library database called Opposing Viewpoints. It lists a variety of topics on society, culture, current events, and more.

MLA Citations

MLA Citations - Overview:

Additional MLA resources: