You can try a Discipllinary Database to find articles on your topic. Here are some suggestions.

When searching--be specific and search using keywords and concepts instead of sentences.

For example: jazz "middle east"

Search specific keywords and concepts in this database. If you find an article you like, also look at the Citations and References listed to the right. Citations will take you to a list of other articles that cited the article you are viewing. It lets you go forward in time. References provides a list of sources the author of the article used as information sources for their article.

Try out terms such as these along with your keywords when searching.

"cultural transmission"

"cultural diffusion"

"cultural movements"

"social action"

"social change"

americanization

cultural imperialism

In addition to searching the general "social movements" you can try some of the following phrases in your search:

"Environmental Movements"

Feminism

"Human Rights Movements"

"Nativistic Movements"

"Protest Movements"

This is a good place to look at black civil rights movement and music or culture. Try searches like:

"black history" music

black music "civil rights movement"

You can also find american culture impact on other countries. For example:

ambassadors music "cold war"

Google Scholar can be a good place to start a search. You can also use Google Scholar to easily search for articles, books, and book chapters you have found in reference lists in other articles. You can also use the >> under a citation to request something through Interlibrary Loan (free) and also use the Cite link to grab a citation in MLA, APA, or Chicago style.

Always link to Google Scholar from the WSU library website, so you will have access to the articles in the WSU collections and a direct link to our Interlibrary Loan service.

Finding reliable and credible sources to support your ideas and observations lends authority to your report.

What do these words mean when you are selecting a source?

A reliable source can demonstrate that it is consistently good in quality or performance. The peer-review process is intended to provide consistency in quality, which is why you are asked to find peer-reviewed research articles from scholarly journals. Publications or websites that have a long history of publication, a full description of who they are on their "About Us" page, can help support the reliability of a source. Authors who have credentials or training in a field or discipline, and regularly publish in recognized sources, may also be considered "reliable". If you use information from the web or popular sources like magazines, you should "google" the author's name to see if you can find this kind of information about them. Sometimes the author's name has a link that leads to more information about them.

Credible is defined by Merriam Webster as "offering reasonable grounds for being believed". Credible sources should provide reliable evidence for their assertations, and all sources should be noted or linked. Statistics, graphs, and charts should lead to the original source. Any bias or point-of-view would be explicitly stated. The source providing the information (website organization, publisher, etc.) should provide a full description of themselves. Credible articles should at the very least provide an author and date of the information, and you should always get more information about the author's reliability to help establish their credibility. Peer-reviewed publication requirements, such as providing citations for any sources used, and valid statistical analysis of any data, help establish their credibility.

This short video will help you consider the components of credibility when judging a source.