African American Studies 220
Introduction to Research Methods in African American Studies
A Guide to Library Resources for African American Studies 220
Spring 2013
Beth Sheehan (edivince@illinois.edu)
Ellen Swain (eswain@illinois.edu)
Background Research | Primary Sources & Special Collections | Articles | Books & Journals | Data & Statistics | Citing Sources | Research Assistance
Welcome! This site has been created to assist you finding and using library resources for your AFRO 220 research assignments. Our library is one of the largest publicly funded university library in the world. It can seem a bit overwhelming at first, but it is truly a treasure trove for scholars. All of the University of Illinois Library's resources are available to you as you do your research--so start exploring, have fun, and don't hesitate to ask questions!
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Finding background information about a topic is an important step of the research process. Consulting a handbook or subject-specific encyclopedia can help you put your research in a broader context and help point you to areas for further research.
Guidance on Social Science Methods
For this assignments in this course, it may be helpful to consult handbooks that describe methods for doing research in sociology and related disciplines.
- Sage Research Methods Online- an online collection of encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and e-books on research methods. Includes both theoretical information and definitions, as well as practical advice on designing and implementing research projects, analyzing research data, and writing up results. Search by method or technique, or browse the methods map to find related terms.
More print resources (available in the Social Sciences, Health and Education Library Reference Circulating Collection):
- Developing Effective Research Proposals (300.72 P966d)
- Approaches to Social Research (300.72 Ap652010)
- Research Methods in the Social Sciences (300.72 r3119)
- Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research (001.42 C865d)
- The Sage Handbook of Sociology (301 S129)
- The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods (300.72 L585s)
- Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook (300.72 Si395d)
- The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. 4th ed. (Q. 300.72 H1915 2011)
- The Survey Kit. 2nd ed. (300.723 Su793 2001)
- Data Collection and Analysis. 2nd ed. (300.72 D262 2006)
- SPSS for Windows Step by Step (300.285536 G293s 2011)
- SPSS Demystified (300.28555 Y72s 2011)
- Ethnographic Methods (305.8001 Or336e 2012)
- The Ethnographer's Toolkit. (305.80072 Et38)
Hints to find more handbooks on social science research: Browse the shelves at the Social Sciences, Health and Education Library. The call number range for social science research methodology is 300-301. The New Book, Reference and Reference Circulating areas have the newest guides and handbooks.
African American Background Information
The lists of resources at the following links were compiled by the African American Research Center at the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library.
- African American Reference Resources- a selective list of reference sources covering humanities and social science aspects of African American life and culture, available in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library. Includes bibliographies, encyclopedias, and other sources of background information on topics in African American studies.
- Selected Databases list- See the Encyclopedia & Handbook section of this list for more sources of background information, including online encyclopedias.
University of Illinois Background Information
- Books, Papers and Websites about the University of Illinois- a list of books, articles, dissertations and more about various topics in University of Illinois history, administration, student life, etc. Includes a section of resources on the "African American Experience" at the University of Illinois.
PRIMARY SOURCES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Primary Sources about the University of Illinois
Student Life and Culture Archives Resources
The Student Life and Culture (SLC) Archives contains primary sources on University of Illinois student life and historical issues.
Guide to African-American Research Resources (Archives)
The Guide to African-American Research Resources is intended as a starting point for finding source materials regarding the history of African-Americans at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. The items it describes are generally not available on-line. They can be used for research in the University Archives.
African American Newspapers, Film, and Primary Source Collections
Identifies articles in major African-American newspapers published in the United States during the 19th century. Contains information about cultural life and history during the 1800s, including first-hand reports of the major events and issues of the day. Also contains early biographies, vital statistics, essays and editorials, poetry and prose, and advertisements.
Features the 3-volume Encyclopedia of African American History 1619-1895, the 3-volume Black Women in America encyclopedia, the 5-volume Africana encyclopedia of the African and African American experience, and selected articles from other reference works. Also includes bibliographies, timelines, maps, image collections, and key primary source documents.
Combines several resources for research and teaching in Black Studies: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), historical black newspapers, and the Black Literature Index.
Features documentaries, newsreels, interviews and archival footage surveying the evolution of black culture in the United States. Included are films covering history, politics, art and culture, family structure, social and economic pressures, and gender relations. This current release includes 145 videos totaling 141 hours.
- Selected Databases list- See the Digital Collections section of this list for more sources of African American newspapers, film and primary and special collections.
ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE UNIVERSITY
- Archive of Ethnography of the University student research projects at UIUC (IDEALS)- Browse student projects from past Ethnography of the University Initiative courses for examples of ethnographic research projects that have been done by other students on the University of Illinois campus. Hint: Try browsing the subjects, and search for "African American" or "Black" to find projects studying African American topics on campus.
FINDING ARTICLES
Search databases to find published scholarly articles about research methods, or examples of research studies on similar topics relevant to your research topic. This will help you situate your research in context, and findings by other researchers can be used to help guide your research study.
Plan out your search statement
- Start with the "key concept" terms from your "Research Question and Key Concepts" worksheet.
- Enter your keyword search in the search box(es). Use a subject search if available.
- Use the HELP screens in the database to find what truncation symbols are used.
- If desired, limit to Peer Reviewed (items approved by experts in the field) and to a range of publication dates.
Search the database and evaluate the results.
- Think carefully about the results of your search. Narrow or broaden your search as needed. Repeat your search using synonyms from your "Research Question and Key Concepts" worksheet as needed.
- Mark articles you'd like to read.
- Print, download or email citations and print full-text articles.
- Click on the Discover button to link to the full-text of the article or to see where it is available in print.
- If the University Library does not have the article online or in print, use Interlibrary Loan to request the article via email.
Recommended Article Databases
- Sociological Abstracts - The preeminent database for scholarly journals in sociology. Includes thousands of journal articles plus conference papers, book reviews, and dissertations.
- SocINDEX with Full-Text- Provides access to articles from major journals in sociology and related fields.
- ERIC- ERIC is a national education database sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Presently the largest education database in the world.
- Higher Education Abstracts. 1984-present.- Contains abstracts from journals, conference proceedings, and research reports pertaining to participants in higher education, their functions, and environment.
- Black Studies Center (Chadwyck Healey)- Combines several resources for research and teaching in Black Studies: Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience, International Index to Black Periodicals (IIBP), historical black newspapers, and the Black Literature Index.
- Social Sciences Citation Index- A multidisciplinary database covering the journal literature of the social sciences.
You may also want to try...
Article Databases in Sociology
Databases by subject (Social Sciences, Health, & Education)
Selected Databases from African American Research Center
FINDING BOOKS & JOURNALS
Library catalogs are used for two purposes. First, if you know exactly what you are looking for, for example you know the exact title of a book or journal or an author's name. Second, you can use library catalogs to find materials that might be helpful to you by doing subject and keyword searching.
- Online Library Catalog - Look here to find books, DVDs, magazines or journals containing articles that you need, and many other resources. In addition to the 12 million volumes we have on this campus, you can connect to over 70 other libraries in Illinois and request that books be sent to you. When you find something you want in the catalog, write down the following:
Location - in which library the item is kept (or libraries, if we have multiple copies)
Call Number - this number is essential for finding the item on the shelf
Status - is it available for you to check out?
- WorldCat and Interlibrary Loan - The places to verify citations for books and request books and articles you cannot find elsewhere. Ordering books and journals via Interlibrary Loan is free and generally fairly quick.
FINDING DATA AND STATISTICS
- Statistics about the University of Illinois and Higher Education- Databases containing statistics about the University of Illinois students, faculty and staff, as well as databases containing nationwide higher education statistics. Ex: Enrollment, salaries, rankings, demographics, degrees conferred, etc.
- Sources of Social Sciences, Health and Education Statistics- selected sources of descriptive statistics in the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL), focusing on health, education and areas within the social sciences, such as crime, population and demography, and arms control. Links to international sources of statistical information are also included.
CITING SOURCES
Guidelines for citing electronic and print resources are available from the Reference Library's Cite a Source page and the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library's Style and Writing Guide.
RefWorks
A great tool for writing papers, RefWorks helps you export bibliographic records from databases, change the citation styles as needed, and import the citation directly into a Word document so you can create bibliographies on the fly.
RESEARCH ASSISTANCE
Ask-A-Librarian for Help with Your Research
Use our Ask-A-Librarian Service to IM, chat, email, phone or find a reference librarian.
Contact a librarian to request an appointment for an in-depth Research Consultation.
Finding Your Way Around
There are over 25 departmental libraries on our campus, and sometimes it may be difficult to determine where to find the resources you need. For your class, the libraries that you will be using most are the Social Sciences, Health, and Education Library (SSHEL- Room 100 and Room 101 of the Main Library Building), and the African American Studies Research Center at the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library (HPNL- Room 246 of the Main Library building). We're looking forward to helping you!
More Help Using the Library
- Research Process: A step-by-step guide to research that takes you through the entire process, from choosing your topic to citing sources.
- How Do I...? - A series of brief tutorials about library services.
