Afro American Studies

A general guide to library research in Afro American Studies.

Librarian

Email Me

Contact:

W.E.B. Du Bois Library
University of Massachusetts

Available by appointment. I can meet via phone, Zoom, or other online venue. To request an online appointment or get any other help, please email iespinal@library.umass.edu or call:

413-545-6971

Subjects: African Studies, Afro American Studies, Communication, Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies, Native American & Indigenous Studies, Spanish & Portuguese

Library Guide for Afro Am 170: Grassroots Experience in American Life and Culture

Finding Books

To find books at UMass, you have two options.

1. Start with the Discovery Search, the general search box on the library home page, www.library.umass.edu.

Advantages:

This search gives you access to books and articles and more.

Citations can be exported directly to RefWorks or other citation managers.

2. Or, use the Five Colleges Library Catalog.

Advantages:

This catalog lets you search in some very specifc ways, for example, by Library of Congress Subject Heading. Be as specific as possible in your searching. Start with a subject search (use keyword if subject yields no results). Search by author, title, subject, keyword, call number, journal title, etc. For materials on a specific subject, enter your term(s) into the Subject or Keyword search boxes.

Citations can be exported directly to RefWorks or other citation managers.

Sample searches:

Databases

African American Newspapers This link opens in a new window
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Seven nineteenth-century African American newspapers in full text, including advertising, 1827-1902.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
American Music This link opens in a new window
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68,000 tracks of historical recordings of jazz, blues, gospel and other genres, 1890's-1970's.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
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Journal articles, dissertations, and book reviews, many in full text, relating to United States and Canadian history and prehistory, 1954-present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Black Studies Center This link opens in a new window
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Combines key indices (Schomburg, IIBP, etc) to scholarship and primary sources in Afro-American studies.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Black Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
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Collection of monographs, essays, articles, speeches, and interviews written by leaders within the African American community from 1700s to 1975.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
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Full-text articles from newspapers, magazines and journals of ethnic communities in the United States. In several languages, 1965-present.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
Historical Pittsburgh Courier This link opens in a new window
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The leading newspaper of the African American community in twentieth-century U.S. Covers 1911-2010.
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.
HistoryMakers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
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The HistoryMakers is a national 501 (c)(3) non-profit video oral history archive headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The HistoryMakers is dedicated to preserving African American history as the missing link in American history. Focused on American history, oral history and education in general and more specifically on African American history, education, music, law, the arts, science, technology, media, medicine, entertainment, fashion & beauty, business, the military, politics and sports, The History Makers is a combination archive, library, museum, stock footage collection, on-line educator and educational PBS/TV programming. Its topics include but are not limited to African American organizations and associations, slavery, reconstruction, the labor movement, the civil rights movement and black authors."
Available on campus to all, or off-campus to UMass Amherst students, staff and faculty with an UMass Amherst IT NetID (user name) and password.

More...

Citation Management

Use a citation manager, such as Zotero to keep track of your research.

Put all your references in one place, create quick and easy bibliographies, build your knowledgebase for the rest of your career. For help, check out the online guides and webinars or Ask a Librarian.

Some tips on using Chicago notation style with Zotero.

Librarian

Office hours in New Africa House hopefully reinstated for Fall 2023.

During Spring 2023, I can meet you at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, on Zoom or other online venues. To request an appointment or get any other help, please use this form or send me an email.

Click here for assistance. Be well!

(Door of New Africa House some years ago)