Libraries Ask Us

Community Engagement and Service Learning

This guide is designed to support students, faculty, and community members interested in the scholarly and practical aspects of community engagement and service learning.

Get started with database searching

Explanation of research databases and basic help Not Sure Where To Start?

Organize your citations

UMass Library Databases

Find reliable information from journals, magazines and newspapers.

To access databases from off-campus, log-in with your OIT username and password.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
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Scholarly journals from all academic disciplines - an excellent starting point for multidisciplinary research projects. 3,200 full-text journals. Coverage from 1975 to present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Alt-Press Watch This link opens in a new window
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Several hundred U.S. alternative newsweeklies, covering issues like the environment, labor, public policy, and the peace movement, 1970-present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
ERIC This link opens in a new window
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Education journal articles (EJ references) and ERIC documents (ED references), 1967-present. EDs before 1997 are requestable using the Microforms Request page and usable in the Microforms Vewing Room in the LC.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

GovEngine
A private meta-site that organizes access to federal, state, and local government information online. Current

GreenFILE This link opens in a new window
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Scholarly, government, and general-interest articles on climate change, renewable energy, green building, sustainable agriculture, green building, pollution, recycling, education, law, health, and technology. Covers 1973-current.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning
Covers scholarship on service-learning and community engagement. Includes access to all past issues and articles of the MJCSL (with four month embargo). Search by author, title, or journal volume and number.

Where is the article?

You see an article you want in a research database, but it's just the citation and abstract. Where is the article?

UMLinks directs you to the full text if available through the Libraries. If not available online, you will be directed to the Library Catalog. Or, when not available at, you may request through Interlibrary Loan.