Library Research Guides: AFR 215: Unpacking Blackness, Ethnicity, and Identity in the African Diaspora: Start Here

Welcome!

This guide provides some useful starting places and strategies for doing research for this course. I am happy to consult with you on any aspect of your research, from developing a research question to finding, evaluating, and citing sources. Email me or make a an appointment on my calendar.

Get Started with SuperSearch

SuperSearch can be a great place to start your search for journal articles, books, films, newspaper & magazine articles, and almost everything else the library has, in one easy to use interface. You can use the filters on the results screen to refine your search and improve your results. For example, try limiting to Full Text Online, and then Book/eBook to see e-books. Or choose Peer-Reviewed Article to find scholarly journal articles, or Encyclopedia Articles & More to find background sources. Click More... to see all content types.

Because SuperSearch contains so much content from so many different kinds of sources, the results can sometimes be overwhelming and hard to focus. At the same time, SuperSearch is also not comprehensive and can miss key sources. To search with more focus, precision, and depth, be sure to try the databases recommended on this guide or the library catalog for books and films. Or check out our complete list of database, which you can filter by subject.

For more on how to search, see the Search Tips & Tutorials page of this guide.

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Find Background & Context

Oxford African American Studies Center
Thousands of articles by scholars in the field, with primary source documents, maps, and images. Includes extensive coverage of countries of Africa and the Diaspora.

Encyclopedia of the African Diaspora (e-book)
Publication Date: 2008
Excellent source covering people, places, and events of the African Diaspora, spanning five continents and five centuries.
New Encyclopedia of Africa [e-book]
Publication Date: 2008
Addresses the entire history of African cultures from the pharaohs and the ancient civilizations of the south through the colonial era to the emergence of 53 independent countries.
International Handbook of the Demography of Race and Ethnicity
Publication Date: 2015
Presents population profiles and analyses of racial and ethnic disparities and changing intergroup relations in key countries in every region of world.
Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society (e-book)
Publication Date: 2008
Articles covering over a hundred racial and ethnic groups, with additional thematic essays discussing broad topics that cut across group boundaries.
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism (e-book) by Patrick L. Mason
Publication Date: 2013
Examines the anthropological, sociological, historical, economic, and scientific theories of race and racism in the modern era.

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Find Secondary Sources

Politics Collection
Journal articles, think-tank reports, working papers. Comprised of four political science databases, which can also be searched individually: PAIS Index (Public Affairs Information Service), Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, Political Science Database, and Policy File Index
Social Science Premium Collection
Search many social science databases at once. Disciplines covered include sociology, political science, education, economics, anthropology, linguistics, and criminology. Component databases can also be searched individually.
Sociological Abstracts
Indexes international scholarly literature in sociology, 1952 to present.
GenderWatch
With a focus on how gender impacts a broad spectrum of subject areas, this collection gathers historical perspectives on the evolution of the women's movement, men's studies, the transgender community, and changes in gender roles.
Women's Studies International
Indexes journal articles and books on women's studies, feminism, and gender studies, 1972 to present
Historical Abstracts with Full Text
Articles on world history from 1450, excluding US & Canada, written since 1955. Can be co-searched with America: History & Life

JSTOR African Studies Journals and Books
Search through 65 journals and over 400 books in African Studies. Note: the last 3-5 years of articles are not available for many journals in JSTOR.
AfricaBib.org
Contains the Africana Periodical Literature Database, African Women Bibliographic Database, and links to several other very useful indexes. Good bibliography of articles on Africa, use with SuperSearch to get the full text of articles listed here.
Free Africa-related e-journals
Links to 240 e-journals, compiled by the African Studies Centre Leiden (Netherlands)

Ethnic NewsWatch
An interdisciplinary, bilingual (English and Spanish), full text database of newspapers, magazines, and journals from ethnic, minority and native presses.
Academic Search Complete
The world's largest scholarly, multi-disciplinary full text database. Dates of coverage vary by title and go back as far as 1887.

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Find Books in the Catalog

Note: You can change Entire Library to Online to see only materials available online.

Catalog Search Tips

Start with a keyword search. Once you find a book that's relevant to your topic, click on the title and look for the Subjects listed for that book to help you find "more like this" and explore related aspects of a broader topic.

Example: Keyword search: globali*ation AND Africa AND China

Subject terms for the books that come up in this keyword search lead you to many more books on aspects of the topic, for example:

Globalization -- Africa

Globalization -- Caribbean

Economic development -- Caribbean Area

Investments, Foreign -- Africa

(For tips on keyword searching, such as using the asterisk * for wildcard searching, see the Search Tips & Tutorials page of this guide.)

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