African American Studies databases: Home

The databases listed here are useful for finding background information or information in newspapers or popular magazines. 

   These databases cover national news across many papers, providing various perspectives.

• Newspaper Source. Articles from regional United States newspapers, international newspapers, and newswires.
• Ethnic Newswatch. Articles from over 340 alternative-press newspapers, magazines and journals. Includes the Chicago Citizen (1991-), Chicago Defender (1999-), Chicago Independent Bulletin (1996-2007), Chicago Jewish Star (1993-), Chicago Reporter (2009-), and Chicago Weekend (1992-).
• Nexis Uni (new interface to Lexis-Nexis). Journal articles, newspapers (including the New York Times since 2002), wire services, broadcast transcripts, United States federal and state case law.
• Regional Business News. Articles from business journals, newspapers and newswires.

   These search engines each cover one mainstream newspaper.

• Chicago Tribune. Articles from 1985 to the present. For articles from 1849 to 1984, use the Chicago Tribune historical files.
• New York Times. Articles from 1851 to 2010. For articles after 2010, use Nexis Uni
• Wall Street Journal. Articles from 1984 to the present.

JOURNAL ARTICLES - research reports and expert opinions

• Central Index. Interdisciplinary coverage of journals, books, and other materials.
• Academic Search Complete. Jourmal articles from a core set of 800 journals.
• America: History and Life. Articles and book reviews on United States and Canadian history. NOTE: replaced by the Central Index database.
• ATLA Religion Database with ATLASerials. Journal articles, book reviews and essays on religious concerns. NOTE: replaced by the Central Index database.
• Business Source Complete. Articles, conference proceedings, case studies, investment-research reports, industry reports, market-research reports, country reports, company profiles and SWOT analyses.
• Nexis Uni. Business and legal coverage. Journal articles, newspapers (including the New York Times since 2002), wire services, broadcast transcripts, United States federal and state case law.
• Modern Language Association International Bibliography. Articles, books,and more on modern languages, literatures, folklore and linguistics. NOTE: to be replaced by the Central Index database.
• PsycINFO. Articles and books in psychology and related fields. NOTE: replaced by the Central Index database.
• Scopus. BROAD INTERDISCIPLINARY coverage. Articles in science, medicine, technology, and the social sciences.
• SocINDEX alternative tools. Articles from journals, books and conference papers in sociology and criminal justice.

Primary Sources

African American History Serials covers material from the African American community from the 1830s through the mid-1900s and includes everything from social organizations and school registers to church documents. 

 

BOOKS

Expert opinions can be found in books: see our local book catalog for searching. You may want to expand your search to the I-Share state-wide catalog (using the drop-down option below the search box) or our electronic book page.

 

MUSIC

• African American Music Reference. Essays and images on African American music - blues and jazz, reggae and ragtime, opera and hip-hop.
• American Song. Songs by and about children, cowboys, immigrants, Native Americans, pioneers, slaves, politics and civil rights, and war and peace.
• Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online. Musical genres according to heritage, traditions, and themes.

 

STREAMING VIDEOS

• Academic Video Online. Online streaming video on many academic topics.
• American History in Video. Newsreels, archival footage and important documentaries.
• Films on Demand. Over 6,000 streaming videos in all topic areas, searchable by subject, title, or special collection.

 

FACTS/DEFINITIONS

You can locate reliable facts, summaries of topics from dictionaries and encyclopedias, and background information about topics using resources such as CREDO on our Facts/Definitions page.

 

DATA

SimplyAnalytics (was SimplyMap) contains United States census data, business data, and business points that can be manipulated and mapped. You can rank locations based on variables, create demographic analyses, and map variables to the county or sometimes the census Block.  If you sign in as a guest, you won’t need to create an account. Accounts are needed only to save search parameters and data results. (Information and help video page.)

 

Subject-Specific Portals (for non-published information, teaching tools, equipment, and software):

SocioWeb:A Guide to Sociology and Sociological Research   Covers education, employment, theorists, listservs, and other catagories of interest to sociologists.

SocioSite:  Social Science Information System    Links to relevant information and resources for sociologists and other social scientists.

H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online  Contains lists and web sites for peer reviewed essays, multimedia materials, and discussion for colleagues and the interested public.

The Society Pages - an open-access social science project headquartered in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and supported by individual donors.

UMBRA - brings together more than 500,000 digitized materials from over 1,000 libraries and archives across the country.