LibGuides: HNRS 305U: Power of Storytelling: Library Resources for Research

Library Resources for Storytelling Research

The following databases are great places to generate ideas for topics. Narrative theory and/or storytelling research have been applied to nearly every area of interest - so find topics of particular interest to you and then begin searching for scholarly research on narrative and storytelling related to those topics.

In the following databases look for tabs for "Special Topics," "Topic Browser," "Hot Topics," etcetera to consider topics to research, and get initial resources and references:

Gale E-Books This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Collection of ebook reference works in all disciplines including multivolume encyclopedias, biographical directories, business plan handbooks, consumer health references, dictionaries, etc.
Terms of Use
Opposing Viewpoints In Context This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
A collection of content for exploration into social issues from all perspectives. Providing pro/con viewpoint essays, topic overviews, biographies of social activists and reformers, court-case overviews, podcasts, primary source documents, and more.
Terms of Use
Google Account holders can login using their credentials to easily download and share articles, including highlights and notes, using Google Apps for Education tools like Drive and Docs.
Access World News This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive news collection of issues and events at the local, regional, national and international level. Its diverse source types include print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, broadcast transcripts and videos. Use it to explore a specific event or to compare a wide variety of viewpoints on topics such as politics, business, health, sports, cultural activities and people. Terms of Use
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Over 400 reference titles from over 70 publishers covering every major subject. Seamless searching of Credo Reference sources, the WSU Libraries Catalog, and other Libraries subscribed databases.
Terms of Use
Video tour of Credo Reference

Search in WSU Libraries' ONLINE CATALOG or the discovery tool SMARTSEARCH for more items about Storytelling or Narrative and the brain. [Note that you can filter by e-books in both the catalog and SmartSearch for resources available electronically]

Use search terms like: storytelling OR narrative OR story telling AND brain OR neuroscience OR cognition OR cognitive science - to find places to start evaluating scholarly materials. Add subjects like political science or history or business or marketing or sociology or philosophy, etc. to focus on the perspectives you're most interested in!

Click HERE for help with FINDING BOOKS AND RESOURCES IN THE LIBRARY CATALOG

The Storytelling Animal by Jonathan Gottschall
ISBN: 9780547391403
Publication Date: 2012-04-10
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory by David Herman (Editor); Manfred Jahn (Editor); Marie-Laure Ryan (Editor)
ISBN: 0415282594
Publication Date: 2005-02-03
Narrative Theory and the Cognitive Sciences by David Herman (Editor)
ISBN: 1575864673
Publication Date: 2003-11-01
The Art of Storytelling by Amy E. Spaulding
ISBN: 9780810877764
Publication Date: 2011-02-01
Story Proof by Kendall Haven
ISBN: 9781591585466
Publication Date: 2007-10-30
How Literature Plays with the Brain by Paul B. Armstrong
ISBN: 9781421410029
Publication Date: 2013-09-18
The Runaway Species by David Eagelman; Anthony Brandt
ISBN: 9781936787524
Publication Date: 2017-10-10
Storyworlds Across Media by Marie-Laure Ryan (Editor); Jan-Noël Thon (Editor)
ISBN: 9780803245631
Publication Date: 2014-07-01
Contemporary American Trauma Narratives by Alan Gibbs
ISBN: 9780748641147
Publication Date: 2014-07-30

Search in WSU Libraries' ELECTRONIC DATABASES (select databases by subject of interest) or query the discovery tool SMARTSEARCH for scholarly articles about Storytelling or Narrative and the brain.

Library Homepage (use the SmartSearch Advanced Search option)
A-Z Database List
Click here to search subject-specific or discipline-specific databases on your topics

Below are some key interdisciplinary databases to search for scholarly articles on your topics:

ProQuest Databases This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Use this link to search multiple ProQuest databases simultaneously. Terms of Use
Academic OneFile This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from academic journals, magazines, newspapers, and reference sources as well as audio files from NPR and other news programs. Comprehensive and multidisciplinary. Coverage: 1980-present.
Terms of Use
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Online access to core scholarly journals in business, education, health, arts & humanities, life sciences, literature, physical sciences, and social sciences. Coverage begins with the first issue of each journal.
Terms of Use
Includes: Arts & Sciences 1-15, Business 2-4, & Life Sciences
PsycARTICLES This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
From the American Psychological Association (APA), this is a source of full-text, peer-reviewed scholarly and scientific articles in psychology. It includes all journal articles, book reviews, letters to the editor, and errata from each journal. Coverage spans 1894 to present; nearly all APA journals go back to Volume 1, Issue 1.
Terms of Use
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
For Optimal Performance, use Firefox or Edge. Full-text access to current content from high quality, peer-reviewed journals in the humanities and social sciences, including literature and criticism, history, visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and economics. Coverage varies.
Terms of Use
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
How to Use Google Scholar off-campus Provides access to scholarly sources across many disciplines including articles, theses, books, etc. from a variety of publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. Links to full-text when available.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Scopus is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature: scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Terms of Use
IEEE Xplore Digital Library This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
IEEE All-Society Periodicals Package (ASPP) provides access to the IEEE core collection of engineering, electronics, and computer science periodicals. Including 174 IEEE online society-sponsored journals, transactions, and magazines; peer-reviewed publications, concentrating on theoretical and experimental papers; quality magazines focusing on practical applications in research, design, and specification; backfiles to 2005; and INSPEC abstract/citation and bibliographic records.
Terms of Use

IEEE can be accessed from off campus with your mobile device. The instructions on how to do this can be found at http://libraries.wichita.edu/remoteaccess.
IEEE now has an IEEE Xplore Image Search App for iPads. It contains over 1 million images from IEEE journals which can be browsed or searched then saved or emailed. Authorized users can access full text articles and download them to their iPad. The free download is available in the App store: http://bit.ly/1c60lFH
PubMed (Medline) This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Citations, abstracts, and some full-text from thousands of biomedical journals published worldwide in the fields of medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care systems, and preclinical sciences. Coverage: 1966-present.
SpringerLink This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to journals and ebooks published by Springer. Includes titles in business, education, engineering, humanities, medicine, psychology, biological and physical sciences.
Also includes the 2011 Handbook Collection & 2011 Encyclopedia Collection.
Terms of Use

Search WSU Libraries' ONLINE CATALOG or STREAMING MEDIA DATABASES to find interviews, documentaries, movies and more related to storytelling and the human!

Below are some key media databases to search... and some examples from our collections!

Films On Demand This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
A source of high-quality video and multimedia for academic, vocational and life-skills content. Includes the Master Academic Collection and the FMG Archival Films and Newsreels Collection.
Terms of Use
Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
This is a comprehensive video collection that delivers more than 48,000 video titles spanning essential subject areas including anthropology, business, counseling, history, music, film, and more. It includes documentaries, interviews, performances, news programs & newsreels, field recordings, commercials, and raw footage. It has award-winning films, including Academy, Emmy, and Peabody winners.
Terms of Use
60 Minutes: 1997-2014, American History in Video, Art and Architecture in Video, Asian Film Online (Volumes * & II), Black Studies in Video, Business Education in Video, Classical Music in Video, Counseling and Therapy in Video (Volumes I-III), Criminal Justice and Public Safety in Video, Current Affairs in Video, Dance in Video (Volumes I & II), Education in Video (Volumes I & II), Environmental Studies in Video, Ethnographic Video Online (Volumes I-III), Fashion STudies Online, Filmakers Library Online (Volumes I-III), Health and Society in Video, Latin American in Video, LGBT Studies in Video, The March of Time, Meet the Press, new World Cinema: Independent Features and Shorts, 1990-Present, Opera in Video, BBC Video Collection, PBS Video Collect (2nd Ed), Silent Film Online, Theatre in Video (Volumes I & II), Video Journal of Counseling and Therapy, World History in Video, and World Newsreels Online.
BBC Video Collection This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
The BBC’s mission is to enrich people's lives with programs that inform, educate, and entertain. Alexander Street’s BBC Video Collection combines 700 of our most-viewed BBC films. Viewers can explore relevant, timely documentaries on topics that span multiple subjects, such as history, anthropology, science, religion, health sciences, art, and more. Terms of Use

5 Steps to Great Storytelling
Tory Johnson interviews Peter Guber about his book Tell to Win for this ABC News @ Work special report. Guber discusses the five steps that are necessary to a great story. Also known as MAGIC, these five steps—motivation, audience, goal, interactive, and content—will allow you to communicate successfully in business. Broadcast date: July 20, 2011 (5 minutes) An ABC News Production.
TED Talks on Storytelling
Over 100 interesting talks related to storytelling and the world.
Why We Tell Stories: The Science of Narrative
Stories have existed in many forms—cave paintings, parables, poems, tall tales, myths—throughout history and across almost all human cultures. But is storytelling essential to survival? Join Jonathan Gottschall, Joyce Carol Oates, Jeffrey Eugenides, and Keith Oatley in a spirited discussion seeking to explain the uniquely human gift of narrative—from how neurons alight when we hear a tale, to the role of storytelling in cognitive development, to the art of storytelling itself, which informs a greater understanding of who we are as a species.

Can't Find the Full Text of an Article?

Try Interlibrary Loan!

Log in with your myWSU ID and password to request a copy of an article or book. Articles are emailed to you and requets can usually be filled within a couple of days. Books take 3-5 days on average and are sent to Ablah Library for you to pick up. It's free!

How to Access Interlibrary Loan
Step-by-step description for requesting items through interlibrary loan via the library website
Using the Interlibrary Loan Form
Instructions for filling out interlibrary loan requests manually in your ILL account