A. Overviews 
1. 
The
African-American Almanac. Ref. E 185.5 .N34 1994
Continues The Negro Almanac, the first comprehensive work to chronicle the
history and culture of African-Americans. A noteworthy reference, this source
includes topical chapters (e.g., black nationalism; Africans in America from
first arrival through Reconstruction); biographical articles; African-American
firsts; a list of African-American award recipients; a compendium of documents
in African-American history; national African-American organizations; entries
on law, politics, population, employment and income, family, education, religion,
literature, the media, and the arts; statistical tables; and more than 800
maps and illustrations.
2. Africana: The
Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience.
Ref. DT 14 .A37435 1999
Covers every facet of Africa and the African diaspora, with a focus on African-American
political, social, and cultural history. Entries range from topics such
as the family, religion, health, and the law to the fine arts, music, the media,
and literature.
3. Dictionary
of Afro-American Slavery. Ref. E 441 .D53 1988
Provides a synthesis of scholarship on slavery in North America, from the first
English settlement to Reconstruction. Its substantial, signed entries cover
people, descriptions of slavery in specific states, religion, economics, and
other relevant subjects. Articles are followed by a selected list of references
for additional research. Includes a chronology, maps, graphs, and cross-references.
4.Encyclopedia
of African-American Civil Rights: From Emancipation to the
Present. Ref. E 185.61 .E54 1992
More than 800 brief entries about people, places, legislation, events, and
constitutional cases related to civil rights through 1990. Most entries provide
a bibliography for further research. Concludes with a chronology covering 1861-1990
and a bibliography.
5.
Encyclopedia
of African-American Culture and History. Ref.
E 185 .E54 2006
Presents a history of the black American experience from 1619 through the mid-1990s,
with articles examining many aspects of culture, such as black identity, the
Harlem Renaissance, and black English vernacular. Concludes with statistical
charts; lists on many topics (e.g., agriculture, religion, health, sports);
and a list of biographical entries by profession. Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
6. Historical
Statistics of Black America. Ref. E 185 .H543 1995
Statistical data on the African-American experience from the 18th century to
1975, arranged chronologically. Covers topics such as agriculture, slavery,
families, and population and vital statistics. See (#10) the
Statistical Record of Black America for 1975 through the 1990s.
7.
In
Motion: The African American Migration Experience. http://www.inmotionaame.org
Produced by the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture and the New York
Public Library, this website presents information and resources on thirteen important
migrations, showing their importance to the history and culture of African Americans
in the United States. Browse by geography, time period, type of source, educational
materials, or by migration (e.g., the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Great Migration),
or search across categories. Includes images, maps, essays, primary sources,
glossary, bibliographies, website links, and lengthy narratives describing each
migration.
8. The
New York Public Library African American Desk Reference. Ref.
E 185 .N49 1999
Compiled by the well respected Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,
this reference is arranged into nineteen chapters covering topics such as slavery,
civil rights, business, religion, education, law, science and technology, the
arts, and sports. Includes many charts, quotations, tables, and timelines.
9. Pan-African
Chronology: A Comprehensive Reference to the Black Quest for Freedom
in Africa, the Americas, Europe and Asia. Ref.
E 185.18 .J46 1996
A detailed chronology of the African diaspora, presenting its political, economic,
social, and cultural aspects from a global perspective. Arranged by year. Substantive
subject index. In three volumes: 1400-1865, 1865-1915, and 1918-1929.
10. Statistical
Record of Black America. Ref. E 185.5 .S83 1997
Covers statistical data from 1975 through the mid-1990s. Arranged by broad
subject categories (e.g., education, employment). For pre-1975 data, see (#6)
Historical Statistics of Black America.
11. The
Timetables of African-American History: A Chronology of the Most
Important People and Events in African-American History. Ref.
E 185 .H295 1995
A chronology noting the social, cultural, and intellectual contributions of
African-Americans. Covers people, organizations, and events
that had a significant impact on African-American life.
B. Biography
Note: To find additional biographical reference sources about
African-Americans,
1) browse
the biography ("Ref. Biog.") and general reference shelves in the
E
185.96s; and/or
2) search
by subject headings in GEORGE. Examples include:
African
Americans -- Biography
African
American women -- Encyclopedias
African
American women -- Biography
12. African
American Biographical Database (AABD).
A compilation of the biographies of thousands of African Americans. Contains
extended narratives of both the famous and the everyday person, including African-American
activists, business people, former slaves, performing artists, educators, lawyers,
physicians, writers, church leaders, homemakers, religious workers, government
workers, athletes, farmers, scientists, and factory workers. Culled from
biographical dictionaries, obituary files, slave narrative collections, and
Internet sites. Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
13. Biography
Resource Center.
Full-text biographical information on more than 150,000 people from throughout
history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas. Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
C. Bibliographies
Be sure to follow leads from bibliographies within books and articles
that address your topic. There are also book-length bibliographies
on topics. To find these, see the subheading -- Bibliography -- with
relevant subject headings in GEORGE (see GEORGE below).
For example,
African
Americans -- History -- Bibliography
14. Harvard
Guide to African American History. Ref. E 185 .H326
2001
Twelve essays provide overviews of archival collections,
tools, and resources for doing research using such materials as manuscripts,
newspapers, music, and photographs. Following these is an extensive
bibliography arranged by time period and by topics. In addition,
women, regional and local studies, and autobiography and biography
are featured in a special section. Includes an author index. A CD-ROM
of the bibliography is kept in the Gelardin
New Media Center, MMCD
390.
15. African-American
Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black
History and Culture. Gov.
Docs. LC 1.6/4:AF8
Bibliographic essays, arranged chronologically, highlight materials
from the general and special collections of the Library of Congress.
An abridged version is on the web at http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html.
The Georgetown
University-Library of Congress Connection will facilitate
your research at the Library of Congress. http://www.library.georgetown.edu/gulc/index.htm
16. Reference
Works in the Field of African-American Studies
www.cc.columbia.edu/~dellacav/afambibl.html
Lists handbooks, bibliographies, biographical sources, dictionaries, encyclopedias,
directories, statistics, maps, quotations resources, and indexes.
A. Literature
Note: To find additional biographical reference sources about
African-American writers,
1) browse
the biography ("Ref. Biog.") and general reference shelves
in
the PS 153.N5s; and/or
2) search
by subject headings in GEORGE. Examples include:
African
Americans in literature -- Dictionaries
American
literature -- African American authors -- Dictionaries
American
drama -- African American authors -- Bio-bibliography
Harlem
Renaissance -- Dictionaries
17. Black
Literature Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism of the Most Significant
Works of Black Authors Over the Past 200
Years. Ref.
PS 153 .N5 B556 1992
Presents an intellectual portrait and the critical reception of 125 black writers
worldwide, concentrating on those born in the 19th and 20th centuries. Each
entry provides a photo; biographical information about the author; a list of
principal works; often selections from an interview with the author; excerpts
from scholarly critical essays; and a list of sources for further reading.
18. Literature
Resource Center.
Full-text biographical, bibliographical, and critical analysis of more than
100,000 world authors and works throughout history and across all literary
genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, and journalism). Enables
you to search by literary movement (e.g., Harlem Renaissance), gender, or author
ethnicity (e.g., African American). Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
19. Masterpieces
of African-American Literature. Ref. PS 153 .N5 M264
1992
Coverage and format similar to that in Masterplots II: African American Literature
Series (see #21), with fuller character descriptions but
without bibliographies.
20. Masterplots
II: African American Literature Series. Ref. PS 153
.N5 M2645 1994
Presents 266 essays about works by African-American and major West Indian writers,
covering not only fiction, plays, and poetry but also nonfiction (e.g., speeches,
autobiographies, slave narratives). Summaries and analyses of works and genres
provide commentary about characters, themes, and critical context. Essays also
include an annotated bibliography of sources for further reading.
21. The
Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Ref.
PS 153 .N5 O96 1997
Includes descriptions of major works, prominent literary characters, and author
biographies.
22.Twentieth-Century
African-American Writers and Artists. Ref. Biog. NX 512.3
.A35 H43 1991
For each writer, poet, painter, composer, and sculptor, this source provides
biographical information, brief criticism of the work, a partial list of works
and their dates, and a brief bibliography of sources for further reference.
B. Religion
23. Directory
of African American Religious Bodies: A Compendium by the Howard
University School of Divinity. Ref. BR 563 .N4 D57
1991
Begins with an overview of organized religion among African-Americans from
colonial times to the early 1990s and is followed by a directory of religious
bodies, including ecumenical and service organizations, organizations with
significant Black membership, and research institutes. Also provides a directory
of African-Americans with scholarly interest in religion. The directory/compendium
includes historical essays on African-American Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals,
Catholics, Jews, Muslims, and spiritualists.
24. Encyclopedia
of African American Religions. Ref. BR 563 .N4 E53
1993
Profiles of individuals, denominations, churches, organizations, schools, and
movements of significance to African-American religious life. Also includes
a chronology; a selected bibliography; a listing of individuals by religious
tradition; an index; and prefatory essays on African-American religion, Martin
Luther King, Jr., and black feminist theology.
C. Music, Theater, Film, and Television
25. Blacks
in American Films and Television: An Encyclopedia. Ref.
PN 1995.9 .N4 B58 1988
Critical examination of films in which African-Americans have performed.
26. Dictionary
of the Black Theatre: Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Selected Harlem
Theatre. Ref. PN 2270.A35 W64 1983
Note: Search by subject headings in GEORGE to find sources
in the Lauinger Stacks. Examples include:
African
Americans -- Music
American
drama -- African American authors
African
American theater
African
Americans in motion pictures
African
Americans in television broadcasting
A.
GEORGE, the online catalog for Georgetown
Use GEORGE, the online
catalog, to find books by subject,keyword, title, or author.
To search by SUBJECT:
GEORGE uses Library of Congress subject headings. These are the
topics assigned to resources by the Library of Congress. Browse by
subject heading to find key resources on a topic.
Two ways of finding the Library of Congress subject headings for
a topic are
1. Consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings,
the large red volumes shelved in the dictionary stand, near the
Reference
Desk.
2. Perform a KEYWORD search in GEORGE for one or more of
the terms that best describe your topic. Then look at the subject
headings within records you retrieve. A search in GEORGE for diaspora
and slavery, for example, will retrieve a set of records containing
both words.
- For works about a person, perform a SUBJECT search using the
person's name. Then scroll down to see the subdivisions the Library
of Congress has created for that subject heading. For example:
Since there will not be a subdivision for all possible topics,
also check the set of items under the name (without qualifiers)
at the top of the list.
-
Examples of relevant Library of Congress subject headings:
African
Americans
African
Americans -- History -- 1863-1877
Slavery
-- United States -- Personal Narratives
Racism
-- United States -- Religious aspects -- Christianity
African
American churches -- Encyclopedias
African
Americans -- Music -- History and criticism
B.
Other Catalogs
WRLC http://catalog.wrlc.org
The catalog of the Washington Research Library Consortium (WRLC):
George Washington, American, Catholic, George Mason, Gallaudet,
and Marymount Universities, the University of the District of Columbia,
and Georgetown University. Georgetown students may borrow directly
from WRLC libraries or request items via the WRLC Catalog.
Library of Congress http://catalog.loc.gov/
WorldCat
Lists the holdings of over 1,000 research libraries, primarily
in the United States. Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
About periodical searching: Use a periodical index to locate journal
articles about your topic. Since African-American studies span all
disciplines,
you may
need
to search additional indexes not listed here. See a complete listing
at http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/.
Note: To locate the full text of articles, search Journal
Finder by the title of the journal or magazine. Journal Finder will tell
you if the full text of a periodical is available in an online database
and/or if the Library has a print copy.
Two periodical indexes that are good to start with are:
27.Academic
Search Premier, Proquest
Research Library
These two databases cover a wide range of scholarly journals and
popular magazines in all subjects. Many articles are full text.
Particularly good for current and interdisciplinary topics. Also available
from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
A. African-American
Studies
28. Alternative
Press Index. 1991- . Alternative
Press Index Archive.
1969-1990.
Indexes and abstracts 300 alternative, radical and left leaning
journals, newspapers and magazines from the U.S. and abroad. Topics
covered include anarchism, democracy, ecology, feminism, gay and lesbian
issues, indigenous peoples, labor, national liberation, and socialism.
29. Ethnic
News Watch. 1990- .
Full-text collection of the newspapers, magazines, and journals
of the ethnic, minority, and native press. Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
30. International
Index to Black Periodicals. 1902-
.
Includes current and retrospective bibliographic citations and abstracts from
over 150 African-American-oriented and -produced scholarly and popular journals,
newspapers, and newsletters from the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean.
Full-text coverage of 25 core black studies periodicals (1998 forward). Coverage
is international in scope and multidisciplinary, spanning cultural, economic,
historical, religious, social, and political issues. An essential tool for
identifying articles published in African-American periodicals. Also
available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
31. JSTOR.
Full text of selected, important scholarly journals in a number of
fields including African-American studies. Note: journals
in JSTOR usually do not include the most recent 3-5 years. For
more recent
articles, use one of the other indexes listed in this section.
Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
32. The
Kaiser Index to Black Resources, 1948-1986. Ref. Z
1361.N39 K34 1992
A monumental publication in providing bibliographic access to African-American
resources. Indexes resources in the Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library.
33.LexisNexis
Academic.
Full text of news, business, legal, and reference information. Also
available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
34. Social
Sciences Index. 1984- .
Indexes the major scholarly journals in the social sciences, including several
history journals, since 1983. For prior years, use Humanities & Social
Sciences Index Retrospective (1907-1984). Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
B. History
35.America:
History and Life. 1954- .
Primary index to research in American history. Includes abstracts (summaries)
of articles. "Blacks" is the subject heading used for African-Americans. Limit
by language and document type (articles, collections of articles, books, and
dissertations). Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
C. Literature
36.Humanities
Index. 1984- .
Provides citations to the major scholarly English-language journals in humanistic
disciplines (including history and literature). For prior years, use Humanities & Social
Sciences Index Retrospective (1907-1984). Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
37. MLA
International Bibliography. 1961-
.
Produced by the Modern Language Association of America. Covers scholarship
in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Indexes journal articles
(75% of the entries), books, and book chapters from multi-author
works. For prior years, see its print equivalent
(Ref. Z 7006 .M64). Also available from http://www.library.georgetown.edu/advisor/
A. Comprehensive Gateways
38. Academic
Info http://www.academicinfo.net/africanam.html
An annotated directory of Internet resources on black history, with links to
topics such as Martin Luther King, Jr., slavery, the Civil War, and the civil
rights movement.
39.African
American Culture http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues1999/january1/africanamerican.htm
Compiled by the Association of College & Research Libraries, this metasite
lists quality websites in African-American Studies from academe and beyond.
Annotated and evaluated.
40. American
Memory http://rs6.loc.gov/amhome.html
Multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound,
moving pictures, and text from the Library of Congress's Americana collections.
B. Associations,
Museums, and Organizations
41.Anacostia
Museum and Center for African American History and Culture http://anacostia.si.edu/
A museum of the Smithsonian Institution, the website links to a number
of resources.
42.NAACP http://www.naacp.org/
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
43. Nation
of Islam http://www.noi.org/
44. National
Urban League http://www.nul.org/
The National Urban League is the premier social service and civil rights organization
in America. The mission of the National Urban League is to assist African Americans
in the achievement of social and economic equality.
45. Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture http://www.nypl.org/research/sc/sc.html
The Schomburg Center provides several digitized primary source collections
and online exhibits as well as information about its research collection
in New York City.
46. Yahoo!'s list
of African American organizations.
Please
send us your comments or suggestions
Content updated: 12/07
jc
Links updated: 12/07
jc
I.
History and Culture