Collins Memorial Library: AFAM 101: Dr. Brackett: African American Studies Information Sources

Background Sources

Exploring your topic is an important step in the research process. Reading background information about a topic helps you learn important facts and become more familiar with the context and issues around your topic.

Try the following resources as starting points. Search broadly. Also try, searching multidisciplinary databases to help focus your topic.

African American Studies Center (Oxford)
A collection of full text materials focusing on the lives and events which have shaped African and African American history and culture. Includes biographies, images, primary source documents with commentaries, maps, tables and charts, and thematic timelines.

Access limited to 3 simultaneous users.
SAGE Knowledge
The social sciences platform for SAGE and CQ Press books, reference materials and other content.
CQ Researcher
Full-text reports that cover background, main issues, pro/con, next steps, and further reading. Use the Issue Tracker to find related CQ reports and track an issue over time.
Gale eBooks
Provides full text online access to Gale electronic books, including encyclopedias and other reference resources.

Search Primo

Primo is a library search tool for finding materials in the Collins Library and Summit libraries. You can search for books, selected articles and more in a single search box.

Call Numbers to Browse

If you're interested in a broad topic in African American Studies or would like to browse for inspiration, try one of these Library of Congress call letters:

BR 563: African Americans Religion (lower level)
E184.5-185.98: African American History (second floor)
E441-453: Slavery, Antislavery Movements (second floor)
HT 1501-1595: Race, includng race as a social group and race relations (second floor)
LC 2699-2913: Education of African Americans (third floor)
PN 1995.9 N4: African Americans in Motion Pictures (third floor)

Locations of books

New books are located in the Library lobby on the main floor and are in call number order.
Print Reference books are on the main floor across from the Learning Commons area.
Book stacks: Consult the library map; use the location chart, or ask any staff member for help!