AAAS 100, Sec.1: Evolving Status of Blacks in the Twentieth Century

• Look at your syllabus for topic ideas

• Try These First

  • a great place to start to develop your topic
  • use keywords to find articles on your topic

• Use Bibliographies to locate information in books, journals, magazines, newspapers, etc. To locate a bibliography on your topic try a keyword search in The CAT using your keywords and the word "bibliography".
  Example: In Basic or Advanced Search, enter "civil rights bibliography", "race relations bibliography",etc.
  In Advanced Search you can narrow your search to books or other formats.

Discuss your topic with your instructor or librarian.

Examples:

• BROAD topic: "Civil Rights in United States""
  can be narrowed to:
  • an individual
  • civil rights organization(s)
  • a population (African Americans, Asian Americans, Women, etc.)
  • a location/geography (New York, PA, etc.)

• NARROW topics: "Malcolm X and PanAfricanism", "African American civil rights activists in PA", "Civil rights organization in New York", etc.
  Note: You can narrow these topics even further.

Example:
Topic: Malcolm X and PanAfricanism

Some keywords, synonyms, and related terms to use when researching this topic:

• Malcolm X
• PanAfricanism
• Malcolm Little [Malcolm X's given name]
• El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz [Malcolm X's Nation of Islam name]
• Black Power [term related to PanAfricanism]

Combine keywords, synonyms, and related terms with Boolean terms "AND" or "OR" when searching for books, encyclopedias and other reference works in The CAT, or when searching for articles in databases.

Examples:

• Malcolm X AND PanAfricanism
• Malcolm X OR Malcolm Little OR El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz AND Pan-Africanism
• Malcolm X AND Black power

Reference sources like encyclopedias and specialized dictionaries can provide background information and a general overview for your topic.

Use The CAT [Penn State Libraries' online catalog] to find, not only reference materials, but also general books, dissertations, videos and other recorded formats on your topic. The CAT will also provide links to online resources when available.

Using the "Advanced Search" feature in The CAT allows you to limit your search to format, publication year, library, etc.

Online encyclopedias [available via the Libraries' Databases by Title (A-Z list) as well as via The CAT] helpful for your research:

• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• Oxford African American Studies Center
• American National Biography
• Biography and Genealogy Master Index

Use the Find Databases by Subject link to find Libraries' Research Guides that cover the subject area or discipline of your topic.

Some databases you may find helpful:

• America: History and Life
• Historical Abstracts
• JSTOR
• Project MUSE
• Race Relations Abstracts
• Ethnic NewsWatch (newspaper articles)
• International Index to Black Periodicals
• Sociological Abstracts

Newspapers and other news sources can provide context for information you are gathering. Use the Libraries' Newspapers and News Sources Research Guide for help finding current and historical news sources.

Use The CAT to find government documents in the Penn State Libraries. The "Advanced Search" feature in The CAT will allow you to limit by location: scroll down to "Paterno-2nd Floor-U.S. Documents" to limit your search to United States government documents.

From the Libraries' Databases by Title (A-Z List):

• LexisNexis Congressional: contents include:
  • Congressional Research Service Reports
  • Committee hearings
  • Committee reports
• CQ Electronic Library: contents include:
  • CQ Weekly
  • CQ Almanac
  • CQ Researcher

Other online sources for government documents include:

• GPOAccess [Government Printing Office]
• Catalog of Government Publications
• USA.gov

• LexisNexis Statistical [available via the Libraries' Databases by Title (A-Z List)]

• African American Statistics Sources [Penn State University Libraries' Research Guide]

The following databases are good starting points for researching law and legal information. They are available via the Libraries' Databases by Title [A-Z List]:

• Westlaw Campus
• Gale Virtual Reference Library [search by subject "law"]
• Index to Legal Periodicals

• African American Studies

• The Blockson Collection

• African American History

• Malcolm X: Selected Resources

• African Studies

• Ethnic and Race Relations Resources

Citation and Writing Guides [Penn State Libraries' Research Guide]

Civil Rights Organizations [about.com]

Tutorials [Penn State University Libraries]

• The CAT Tutorial
• Minute Modules
  • What is a journal?
  • How to read a newspaper

How Do I ...? [Penn State University Libraries]

Instructor: Donna King

Librarian: Sylvia Nyana