Cypress College Library
African American Studies Research Guide
The resources covered in this guide include some that are available through the Cypress College Library, and others that are available on the open web. This is only a starting point; for more detailed information come to the library and ask for a consultation at the Reference Desk.
Your research strategy might include some or all of the following:
How do I find an overview or general background information about my topic?
Reference sources are a great place to start a research project. You can use reference sources to find general information about issues, events, organizations and so on. Listed below are a few examples of reference works available through the library:
General Sources African American Almanac Reference Collection (E185 .A37) African-American Firsts: Famous, Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America Main Collection (E185.96 .P68) African-American Firsts in Science and Technology Reference Collection (Q141 .W43) Encyclopedia of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the Present Reference Collection (E185.61 .E54) Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History Reference Collection (E185 .E54) Encyclopedia of African-American History Reference Collection (E185 .E545) Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups Reference Collection (E184 .A1 H35)
Atlases The Routledge Atlas of African-American History Main Collection (E185 .E125) We the People: An Atlas of America's Ethnic Diversity Atlas Case (Atlas Case 1988)
Chronologies Chronology of African-American History: From 1492 to the Present Main Collection (E185 .H64) Timelines of African-American History: 500 Years of Black Achievement Reference Collection (E185 .C86)
Quotations My Soul Looks Back, 'Less I Forget: A Collection of Quotations by People of Color Reference Collection (PN 6081.3 .M9) Quotations in Black Reference Collection (PN 6081.3 .Q67)
Statistics Black Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook Reference Collection (E185.86 .B5238) The Black Population in the United States URL: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/race/black.html
Biographies American Slave: A Composite Autobiography Main Collection (E441 .A58) Black American Writers Past and Present: A Biographical and Bibliographical Dictionary Reference Collection (Z1229 .N39 R87) Black Women in America Reference Collection (E185.86 .B542) Notable Black American Women Reference Collection (E185.96 .N68)
How do I find books about my topic?
Use Cypress College Library's Online Catalog. You can try typing your search words in the text box, setting the search to "Keyword Relevance Search," and clicking the "Search" button (this is called a keyword search). Sometimes this method will bring back too many results, some of which might be irrelevant. In that case, try doing a "Subject" search. You can do a Subject search by typing your terms in the text box and setting the search to "Subject." If you don't get any results, try using some of the official Library of Congress Subject Headings listed below:
How do I find journal, magazine, newspaper, and other types of articles on my topic? You can find full-text articles and biographical information by using these electronic databases:
Θ IMPORTANT NOTE: For remote access to library subscription databases like the ones listed above, you will need access codes. Please come to the reference desk at the library, or call 714-484-7069.
How do I find credible web sources on my topic?
In this section, "web pages" means the "open web"--web sites anyone can access--not web-based research tools like the databases that the library provides. The open web has a lot of great things to offer, but not all the sources found there are appropriate for academic research. How can you determine if the sources you've found are credible? Ask yourself the following questions:
You can try looking for relevant web sites on your own using subject directories like INFOMINE, Open Directory Project and the Librarians' Internet Index. As well, you can try some of the web sites listed below: Sections include: digital publications, historic African Americans, Martin Luther King, Jr., Slavery, Civil War, civil rights movement, jazz, museums, and teaching resources. URL: http://www.academicinfo.net/africanam.html
Provides link to online presentations concerning African-American archaeology projects, with additional links to online resources and presentations concerning African-American history and culture, and much more.
URL: http://www.diaspora.uiuc.edu/bookmark3.html
Materials on African-American colonization, abolition, migration, and participation in the Work Projects Administration (WPA) .
URL: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Bibliography of resources for researching African American genealogy, including beginner's guides, guidebooks, case studies, and bibliographies. URL: http://www.loc.gov/rr/genealogy/bib_guid/afro.html
Covers the history of black journalism in the United States.
URL: http://www.pbs.org/blackpress/
A browsable webliography featuring dozens of annotated links to high-quality web sites related to African American studies.
URL: http://origin.admin.ccny.cuny.edu/library/blacks.html
Includes articles about African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also known as Ebonics.
URL: http://www.cal.org/topics/dialects/aae.html
This site's goal is to serve as a guide on how to research lesser-known black Americans, both slave and free.
URL: http://www.culver.org/academics/infolit/Faculty/foleyd/Teacher_files/craftingfreedom/cfindex.htm
Information on Martin Luther King, Jr., including a biography, text of speeches and writings, some audio features, photographs, and a timeline of Dr. King's life and the civil rights movement.
URL: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/special/mlk/
Full text of the McCone Report, a study commissioned by California Governor Edmund G. Brown concerning the August 1965 Watts riots in Los Angeles. From the the University of Southern California (USC) Libraries.
URL: http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/cityinstress/mccone/
NOTE: The annotations for the web sites listed above are taken from the Librarians' Internet Index.
How do I get more help finding sources for my topic?
If you feel like you need help getting started, finding more detailed materials, or if you have any questions in general, please feel free to come to the library and ask a reference librarian for help. If you have trouble accessing this page and need help, contact a librarian at the reference desk at (714) 484-7069.
Cypress College Homepage | Library Homepage |