Here is a good, basic formula for getting started with your research in African American Studies.
- Begin by using the keyword brainstorming worksheet
to help you tweak your research question, identify keywords and related terms, and keep track of what you find.
- Search in a library catalog (Summon, OBIS, OhioLINK and/or WorldCat) to find books and reference sources. They provide BACKGROUND and CONTEXT, review and SUMMARIZE earlier work, help you FOCUS your topic and provide CITATIONS to important books, journal articles, conference papers, interviews, etc.
- Next, search research databases to find articles. The Library has hundreds of databases available, but the ones listed below are good places to begin.
- You may also wish to use Google or Google Scholar to search the Internet. Take advantage of Google's advanced search features!
- Finally, use the CRAAP test worksheet
to evaluate the sources you find!
African American Newspapers (1827-1998) 
Provides online access to hundreds of historical U.S. newspapers chronicling the African American experience. Dates of Coverage: 1827-1998
America: History and Life
Index to research on the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Indexes articles and book reviews from more than 1,700 journals published in more than 40 languages. Dates of Coverage: 1964 to date
Black Studies Center 
Covers the Black experience from ancient Africa to the modern day from perspectives in history, literature, political science, sociology, philosophy, and religion. Also includes the full text backfile (1935 to 1975) of the influential black newspaper The Chicago Defender.
Ethnic NewsWatch
A full-text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press which represent the diversity of the American population in ways that are generally not seen in the mainstream media. Coverage starts around 1960.
JSTOR
Scholarly journal archive for the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences; most journals 2-5 years out-of-date
MLA International Bibliography
An index to books and articles published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. Coverage includes literature from all over the world. THE source for scholarship on literatures and languages.
Oxford African American Studies Center
African American and African history and culture including biographies, topical entries, primary source documents with commentary, images, maps, charts, tables, and more.
Provides online access to hundreds of historical U.S. newspapers chronicling the African American experience. Dates of Coverage: 1827-1998
America: History and Life
Index to research on the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. Indexes articles and book reviews from more than 1,700 journals published in more than 40 languages. Dates of Coverage: 1964 to date
Black Studies Center
Covers the Black experience from ancient Africa to the modern day from perspectives in history, literature, political science, sociology, philosophy, and religion. Also includes the full text backfile (1935 to 1975) of the influential black newspaper The Chicago Defender.
Ethnic NewsWatch
A full-text database of the newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press which represent the diversity of the American population in ways that are generally not seen in the mainstream media. Coverage starts around 1960.
JSTOR
Scholarly journal archive for the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences; most journals 2-5 years out-of-date
MLA International Bibliography
An index to books and articles published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. Coverage includes literature from all over the world. THE source for scholarship on literatures and languages.
Oxford African American Studies Center
African American and African history and culture including biographies, topical entries, primary source documents with commentary, images, maps, charts, tables, and more.
- Become a better researcher!
- Drop in at the Research Help Desk or call 440-775-5031 during research desk hours
- Email us at reference@oberlin.edu
- Chat / IM with a librarian
- Sign up for a Research Appointment
- Contact Eboni directly -- email ejohnson@oberlin.edu, call 440-775-5026 or stop by Mudd 104
- Oberlin College Writing Center
Located in the Academic Commons of Mudd (first floor) - Citation Help -- Print sources at Oberlin
- Citation Help -- Online sources
- Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL)
KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR SOURCES
ProQuest RefWorks is a citation management tool that helps researchers gather, manage, store and share information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies in a wide variety of styles.
- Search - OBIS, OhioLink, PubMed & Scopus
- Share - Folders via URL
- Store - PDFs online and take notes
- Read - Search your references fulltext and save searches
- Write - Create a simple reference list and use Write-N-Cite to format paper in Microsoft Word
- Check out our video tutorial!
