Selecting the best or most appropriate finding aid for identifying sources depends almost entirely on the context of your research assignment. There is no single database or web search interface that will work for every research context; instead, you'll need to match your specific research needs to a variety of options.

Library catalog searches (i.e., Primo) can be the better choice when you are seeking in-depth, book-length treatments of a topic.

Multidisciplinary databases (i.e., JSTOR) cover a wide variety of subject areas and may include a mix of popular and scholarly sources. They can be the most appropriate choice when you just want to get a sense of what's available on a topic and when it isn't so important that you pay attention to disciplinary lenses.

Subject databases (i.e., MLA International Bibliography) cover a specific discipline and provide the widest range of access to scholarly sources. They are used for in-depth research. Which subject databases you search will be determined by who may be writing about your topic. Recommended subject databases for each discipline can be found on the "articles" page in each library subject guide.

The databases listed below are examples of multidisciplinary databases that contain work from a wide range of academic perspectives. 

Working in groups of 2-3, find your assigned item in PRIMO (the library catalog).

• Abrams, Jonathan P. D, Anna Kochman, and Chris Allen. The Come up : An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop. New York: Crown, 2022.

• Brown, Ruth Nicole, and Chamara Jewel Kwakye, editors. Wish to Live : The Hip-Hop Feminism Pedagogy Reader. Peter Lang, 2012

• Cooper, Brittney C., Susana M. Morris, and Robin M. Boylorn, eds. The Crunk Feminist Collection. New York: The Feminist Press at CUNY, 2017.

• Hill Collins, Patricia. From Black Power to Hip Hop : Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism. Temple University Press, 2006.

• Jones, Alethia, Virginia Eubanks, and Barbara Smith, eds. Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me around : Forty Years of Movement Building with Barbara Smith. Albany: SUNY Press, 2014.

• Pabón-Colón, Jessica Nydia. Graffiti Grrlz : Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora. New York University Press, 2018.

• Rabaka, Reiland. Hip Hop’s Inheritance : From the Harlem Renaissance to the Hip Hop Feminist Movement. Lexington Books, 2011.

Locate the call number in the item record, and go find your item on the shelf. Bring it back to Collins 118!

Here's a library map to get you started. You can also ask for help! 

When you've returned with your item...

Take a look at your item and see what you can discover about it. How would you categorize it? Is it secondary, primary, tertiary, a bit of both? 

Investigate the organization of the item. How could you quickly tell what it's about, and/ or how you might navigate it? (Is there a table of contents, an index, etc?)

What can you tell about who wrote and published it? Who is the intended audience?

How might this item be of interest to your own work or writing in this class?

Be prepared to discuss and report back to the group!