1. Select an appropriate article database:

Often you'll want to search one of the key databases / indexes listed BELOW, such as the  Canadian Periodical Index or America: History & Life (which covers the U.S. and Canada). You may also want to search international subject-specific databases -- such EconLit for economics or MLA for literature --  which you'll find via Subjects A-Z.

To find Canadian information in international databases, you can add canada to your search terms. In many databases you can search for canad* to retrieve Canada, Canada's, Canadian, Canadians, etc. -- e.g.:

   graphic novels AND canad*

Or, you may wish to add a specific province or city to your search terms -- e.g.:

   petroleum AND alberta

2. Construct your search strategy:

Break down your topic into major concepts and combine them with AND. E.g., if you were researching Canadian government policies on multiculturalism, you could combine the following concepts:

   multiculturalism AND Canada AND policy

You can use an asterisk (*) as a "wildcard" in many databases -- e.g.,:

   multicultural* AND canad* AND policy

•  multicultural* will find any word beginning with these letters: "multicultural", "multiculturalism", the French word "multiculturalisme", etc.
  
• canad* will find Canada, Canadian, Canadians, canadien, Canadarm, etc.
• It's probably not a good idea to search for polic* because that would find unrelated words like "police".
  

You can think of synonyms or other ways of expressing your concepts, and combine them with OR -- e.g.:

     (multicultural* or cultural pluralism) AND canad* AND (policy OR policies)

3. Obtain the articles:

In most databases you'll see a "Get It UTL" button, which often takes you to a full text article online. Tip: If you get an error message, click "More options" on the U of T Libraries banner at the top of the page -- this may lead you to other providers of the online article or to print holdings in U of T libraries. In databases where there is no "Get It UTL" button, you can also search for the article title in the Articles tab of the U of T Libraries home page.

You can also search the library catalogue for the journal title (e.g., "Canadian Journal of Native Studies") to find print and online holdings of that journal. Use the "Catalogue" tab from the U of T Libraries homepage, and select "journal title" from the drop-down menu in the Catalogue.

4. Need more help?

U of T librarians and library staff would be glad to help.

This is a selection -- for additional databases, please see Subjects A-Z: Canada.

America: History and Life

This is a major index for materials on the history and culture of Canada (and the United States) from prehistoric times to the present. Coverage includes the following fields:

• History        
• Anthropology  
• Interdisciplinary Studies           
• Women's Studies/Gender Studies
• Popular Culture       
• Sociology        
• Multicultural Studies     
• Literature/Folklore
• Coverage: 1954 to present

Canadian Periodical Index (CPI.Q)

A major database for Canadian topics, including many Canadian academic journals and popular magazines.

• Coverage: 1977 to present (selected full-text from 1983 onwards)

For earlier years, use the paper version of The Canadian Periodical Index 1920-1998, located on Index Table #2, Reference Room, Robarts Library, 4th floor.

CBCA Complete

A comprehensive database for information on Canadian topics. CBCA Complete indexes journals, popular magazines and newspapers, approximately 90% of which are published in Canada. It is made up of three databases, which you also have the option of searching individually:

• CBCA Reference & Current Events
  • A major index for current Canadian topics
  • Indexes prominent journals from the humanities, social sciences and sciences
  • Indexes articles published in magazines, newspapers, newsmagazines and newswires, as well as transcripts of television news programmes
  • Current events are interpreted broadly to include politics, business, the arts, sports, and any other kind of news, whether happening in Canada or abroad
  • Most of the sources are Canadian
  • Coverage: 1982 to present; full-text content 1986 to present
  • For earlier years, use the paper version of The Canadian Newspaper Index 1977-1992, located on Index Table #2, Reference Room, Robarts Library, 4th floor

• CBCA Business
  • An important index for in-depth access to a broad range of Canadian business publications
  • Includes academic journals, trade journals, general business publications, topical journals and professional publications
  • Coverage: 1971 to present; full-text content 1985 to present

• CBCA Education
  • Major index for Canadian information in the field of education
  • Provides information for researchers interested in teaching, educational research and educational administration in Canada
  • Coverage: 1986 to present; full-text content 1993 to present

Bibliography of Native North Americans

• Contains citations to monographs, essays, journal articles, dissertations and other publications
• Includes citations from eight volumes of the Ethnographic Bibliography of North America, along with addition to newer citations.
• Compiled by Human Relations Area Files
• Coverage: 16th century to present

Indigenous Studies Portal (iPortal)

• Indexes and provides links to electronic resources: books, articles, theses, documents, photographs, archival resources, maps, etc.
• The focus is Canadian
• Created by the University of Saskatchewan Library

Please see BELOW for databases / indexes in French or for the period 1800-1960.

For additional databases in English, please see Subjects A-Z: Canada.

REPÈRE [online]

• Indexes over 500 French-language periodicals covering all fields and originating from all over the francophone world: Quebec, other Canadian provinces, France, Belgium, and Switzerland
• Coverage: 1980 to present

Érudit [online]

• Not really an index but rather a collection of full-text periodicals, many of them from Quebec. When you search in Érudit, you're searching within the full text of the documents.
• Also includes selected theses and other documents.
• Most of the journals in Érudit have a "moving wall," meaning there's a delay of several years between the publication of a journal issue and its inclusion in Érudit.
• But for some journals in Érudit, the most recent issues are available online because U of T Libraries has subscribed (i.e., purchased access).

PRINT INDEXES FOR EARLIER MATERIAL:

Point de repère [print]

• Available at U of T Libraries: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AI7 .P42
• Merger of Périodex and RADAR
• Coverage: Vol. 1, no 1 (janv.-févr. 1984)-v. 7 (1990); 1991--nov.-déc. 1993

Périodex; index analytique de périodiques de langue française [print]

• Available at U of T Libraries: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AI7 .P4
  (Special Location: Index Table #2)
• Continues Index analytique
• Coverage: v. 1-11, no 5; sept. 1972-sept.-oct. 1983

RADAR; répertoire analytique d'articles de revues du Québec [print]

• Available at U of T Libraries: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, Z1392 .Q3 R25
• Coverage: v. 1-11, no. 2; sept./oct. 1972-fév./sept. 1983

Index analytique [print]

• Available at U of T Libraries: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AI7 .I6
  (Special Location: Index Table #2)
  
• Coverage: v. 1-6, no. 10; fév. 1966- juin 1972

Répertoire bibliographique [print]

• Available at U of T Libraries: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, Z1392 .Q3 C8
  
• Coverage: v. 1-31; jan./mars 1940-1970

For historical newspapers, please see the Newspapers section of this guide.

Early Canadian Periodicals (part of Early Canadiana) [online]

A rich online collection of over 65,000 issues of over 1,000 early Canadian magazines.

Libris Canadiana [online]

• This database incorporates a number of indexes to Canadian magazines from the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, including:
  • Annotated Index to the Canadian Bookman, 1909-1910; 1915; 1919-1939
  • Annotated Index to the Canadian Forum, 1920-1960
  • Annotated Index to the Canadian Magazine, 1893-1914
  • Annotated Index to Everywoman's World, 1914-1923
  • The Financial Post Index, 1907-1948
  • Index to Maclean's Magazine, 1905-1976
  • Annotated Index to Massey's Magazine, 1896-1897
  • Index to the Monetary Times of Canada, 1867-1929
  • The Rebel, 1917-1920
  • Index to Saturday Night, 1899-1945
  • Annotated Index to the University Magazine, 1901-1920

Architectural index for Ontario [online]

• Database of citations to books and articles in architectural periodicals dating back to the 1850s about buildings in Toronto, provided by the Toronto Public Library

Canadian illustrated news, Montreal, 1869-1883 : an index [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AP5 .C3662 1989

The Concordia University art index to nineteenth century Canadian periodicals [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, Z5937 .C65

An index to Maclean's magazine, 1914-1937 [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AP5 .M144

Canadian index to periodicals and documentary films; an author and subject index [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AI3 .C24 04

Index to pre 1900 English language Canadian cultural and literary magazines [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AI3 .I637 1994

An index to Saturday night : the first fifty years, 1887-1937 [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AP5 .S382 1987

An index to the Canadian monthly and national review and to Rose-Belford's Canadian monthly and national review, 1872-1882 [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, AP5 .F55

Ontario rural society 1867-1930 : a thematic index of selected Ontario agricultural periodicals [print]

• Available at U of T libraries including: Reference Material, Robarts Library, 4th floor, F5500 .V76 1985 (Special Location: Index Table #2)

You can search for a particular article by typing its title in the Articles tab of the U of T Libraries home page. Often this takes you directly to the online article (or at least to the journal's website, where you can click on the year and issue where your article appeared). Tip: If you get an error message, click "More options" on the U of T Libraries banner at the top of the page -- this may lead you to other providers of the online article or to print holdings in U of T libraries.

You can also use the Catalogue tab on the U of T Libraries home page to search by journal title to find our print and online holdings. E.g., type Canadian Journal of Native Studies and select "journal title" from the drop-down menu in the Catalogue.

And don't hesitate to ask us for help.