Why Yoga?
Yoga has it's basis in ancient Indian philosophy. Practitioners of yoga use postures, breathing, and meditation to encourage control over the mind and body. Hatha yoga, the most commonly type of yoga practiced in the United States, includes Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vini, Kundalini, and Bikram yoga.
According to the National Institutes of Health, research suggests that practicing yoga may:
- Relieve stress and support mental and emotional health
- Relieve pain
- Encourage healthy habits
- Improve one's quality of life
Cultural Studies
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AnthroSource This link opens in a new window
An online service of the American Anthropological Association (AAA), provides access to over 100 years of anthropological knowledge, supporting the research, teaching, and professional needs of anthropologists.
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ARTSTOR This link opens in a new window
Artstor is now available in its new home on JSTOR! When you search JSTOR, you will find Artstor’s images and primary source collections alongside JSTOR’s vast collection of books, journal articles, and research reports.
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Communication & Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window
Provides full-text access to journals, magazines, and other resources covering all aspects of communication and mass media. Topics include journalism, media studies, advertising, public relations, linguistics, broadcasting, and more.
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MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
An international Bibliography with full text provides access to an index as well as full-text content of books as well as articles published on modern languages, literature, folklore, and linguistics
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Life Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Full-color, cover-to-cover coverage of the photojournalism magazine from its first issue in November 1936 through December 2000.
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National Geographic Magazine This link opens in a new window
Provides full access to National Geographic magazine, from its first issue in 1888 through the present. Explore iconic photographs, in-depth articles, and maps covering science, history, culture, nature, and global exploration.
Hello from Your Librarian
Welcome to the course research guide for RCC100: Cultures of Yoga, Mind & Body
Think of this guide as a one-stop shop for finding, evaluating, and citing resources. This guide will be helpful when preparing for your Final Research Paper, but it will also help you discover and assess sources for your future classes.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Wenxian Zhang, Your Librarian.
General Library Research Databases
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Academic Search Ultimate This link opens in a new window
Provides collections of peer-reviewed journals, magazines, reports, books, and videos covering various subjects like astronomy, engineering, health, law, mathematics, and more.
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JSTOR This link opens in a new window
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, images, and primary sources.
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Columbia International Affairs Online This link opens in a new window
An online resource of documents and articles devoted to research, analysis, and scholarship on international politics and related fields, including security studies, global finance, diplomatic practice, humanitarian law, global governance, development studies, and environmental studies.
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ProQuest Research Library This link opens in a new window
Provides access to articles from scholarly journals, popular magazines and newspapers, in many different subject areas.
Scholarly, Trade, and Popular Sources
One of the most challenging aspects of finding reliable sources can be determining exactly what kind of source you're looking at. In many cases, you will need to be using only articles from scholarly journals for your research. How do you know if something is a scholarly journal? The table below gives some basic criteria you can use to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly sources.
| Scholarly Journals | Trade Journals | Popular Magazines | |
| Intended Audience | Academics, researchers, other scholars and students. | Professionals in a specific field. | General public. |
| Author and Review Process | Peer review. Articles are written by experts in a field and must be reviewed by other experts in that field to ensure their credibility before they are published. | No peer review, but journals editors are usually experts in the field. Authors are usually experts in a field, sometimes journalists with subject expertise. | No peer review, articles need only be approved by the magazine's editorial staff, who are not experts in the field. Authors are journalists with no subject expertise. |
| Citations | Extensive citations and reference list. | Sometimes includes a few citations, but not required. | Usually no citations. |
| Example |  |
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Your Librarian
Evaluate Sources
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Web of Science This link opens in a new window
Provides scholarly journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities and navigate the full citation network.