When I was in school for my undergrad, one of my favorite things to do between classes was to browse articles from all the academic databases my school offered. The one I browsed most often was JSTOR, which is filled with journals and eBooks on history, science, art and cultural topics. Sadly, full access is outside the means of most public libraries. While patrons have been able to request individual articles through Interlibrary Loan, it takes time to get a copy sent from the holding library and the abstract doesn’t always tell you everything about an article.
Due to COVID-19 forcing the closure of many colleges and universities, JSTOR is now opening up what content they can provide to both licensed institutions and free users, the most important being increasing the amount of free views from six to 100 per month. I have been enjoying looking through everything they have to offer from articles on World War I artwork to Batman.
One of my favorite journals is Mechademia: Second Arc from University of Arizona Press. If you’re a manga or anime fan who wants in-depth analysis of Japanese pop culture (such as how it differs in the portrayal of superheroes), you won’t find a better source.
For a full list of access changes due to COVID-19, visit about.jstor.org/covid19 or create an individual user account.