Fall 2007 - W. Lhamon
reference contact: Pamela Skinner x2961

FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION

FIND BOOKS

5 College Library Catalog
To start your subject search, click on SUBJECT BEGINS WITH and try such search terms as those listed below. Note that the "correct" subject heading isn't always obvious. If a subject search doesn't work, try a keyword search to find a few relevant titles. Then click on the subject headings on those records to conduct a more comprehensive subject search.

Examples of relevant subject headings:

African American arts
Arts, Black
African American musicians
African Americans - Intellectual life
African Americans - Music - History and criticism
African Americans in motion pictures
African Americans in the performing arts
Blacks - Intellectual life
Blacks in literature
Blackface entertainers - United States
Blues (music)
Minstrel music - United States - History and criticism
Minstrel shows - United States - History
Ragtime music
Sideshows - United States - History
Tent shows - United States - History

Beat Generation
Harlem Renaissance

Remember to search people as both authors and subjects:

Evans, Walker
Ellison, Ralph
Gershwin, George
Handy, W.C.
Hurston, Zora Neale

WorldCat
Use WorldCat to expand your search for books, theses, etc. beyond the Five-College area. Watch for items that are owned by only one library: such unique material is often not obtainable via interlibrary loan (though a listing of archival material might suggest the location of an answer to your question). If you plan to use interlibrary loan to request books and theses, please allow at least 2 weeks for delivery.

FIND ARTICLES & ESSAYS

Use the databases below to identify articles and essays on your topic.

• Use the SC Links buttons within the databases below to see if Smith has the article you need either in electronic or print format
• If you identify an article from another source, use the Journal Locator to locate the article online or in print
• If you need to use interlibrary loan to requests articles, allow a week or so (though often the articles arrive within days)

Academic Search Premier - 1965 to present
Interdisciplinary array of both scholarly and popular journals and magazines.

America, History and Life - 1953 to present
Lists articles, book reviews, collections, and dissertations on all aspects of American history.

Film & Television Literature Index with Full Text - coverage varies by title

Humanities Abstracts - 1984 to present
Covers literature, film, theatre, etc.

Humanities International Index - coverage varies by title
Covers literature, film, theatre, etc.

International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance Full Text - 1982 to present

International Index to the Performing Arts - 1864 to present

MLA Bibliography - 1926 to present
Covers literature, drama, folklore.

Music Index Online - 1979 to present

RILM Music Abstracts - 1969 to present

RIPM: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals - 1800-1950

Recommended Aggregators/Full-Text Sources:

J-STOR - Full-text articles from major history journals, among other disciplines. Coverage lags ca.3 years behind printed version of the journal.

ProjectMuse - Full-text articles from major history journals, among other disciplines. Coverage limited to issues from the past 5-10 years.

FIND PRIMARY SOURCES

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES:

Nation Archive - 1865 to present
Digital archive of The Nation, America's oldest weekly magazine.

America's Historic Newspapers - 1690 to 1922
Digitized images from 1,000 U.S. historical newspapers, including titles from all 50 states. Draws on the collections of the American Antiquarian Society, Library of Congress, Wisconsin Historical Society and others. Complements the "national" papers below by covering more regional/local papers.

Chicago Defender -1905 to 1975
Complete archive of digitized articles, editorial cartoons, photographs, advertisements, etc. from this nationally significant African-American newspaper.

New York Times Historical - 1851-2003

Los Angeles Times Historical - 1881-1985

Washington Post Historical. 1877 - 1990

MAGAZINE ARTICLES:

Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective - 1907-1965

Periodicals Index Online - 1770+

Readers' Guide Retrospective -1890-1982

MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL:

• If you would like to work with primary source materials in the original, consider using Smith's Sophia Smith Collection. This page describes their major subject collections.
• Materials relating to the history of the college are housed in the College Archives. Letters, diaries, and other primary sources documenting student life at Smith are listed on the Research Guides page. The image gallery also gives a sense of the scope of the collection.
• Consult with the collection curators for other ideas.

  OTHER SOURCES:

African American Song - in progress - on trial - access limited to Smith campus only.
Contains a diverse range of genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, narratives, sacred music, etc. Currently contains 16,000 tracks from the first half of the 20th century, including the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Memphis Minnie, Blind Willie McTell and Huddie Ledbetter.

American Memory (Library of Congress)
Browse the collections on African American history and on Performing Arts/Music, including sheet music, Zora Neale Hurson plays, first-person narratives of the American south, recordings from the Fort Valley Music Festivals, etc.

EVALUATING AND CITING SOURCES

• Remember to cite your souce, when either quoting directly or paraphasing.
• Cite your source whenever you present an idea that isn't your own.
• Websites must be cited in your notes/bibliography, too; if you cut and paste--or
  paraphrase--from a website, cite the webpage.
• When in doubt, cite your source.
• Use this link to connect to online versions of Turabian, MLA Style Guide, etc.:
  Style Manuals & Citation Guides

Using Primary Sources on the Web: Evaluating Primary Source Websites (Instruction & Research Services Committee, Reference and User Service Association History Section, American Library Association)

Evaluating internet resources (Univ. of Maryland)

Jacobsen Center: Writing Services

REFERENCE DESK HOURS

Click here for Neilson Library reference desk hours.

CONTACT THE REFERENCE LIBRARIAN

Contact Pamela Skinner, the instructor for your library session: pskinner@smith.edu

YOUR FEEDBACK

Click here to provide feedback on this library session.

 

 

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