History of African American Women & Feminism (AFRAM) 321
Before beginning your research, review the content listed below. Feel free to send me an email if you are having difficulty understanding the information included on this page or difficulty finding resources on your topic: Harry Murphy, maurice@u.washington.edu .
One of the most important processes in conducting research is designing your search strategy. The following are recommended elements in designing your strategy:
- Analyze your topic
It is rarely possible to design a research search in only one way using a single vocabulary and expect to find all the materials you will need to complete your project.
- You may need to use more than one database
[ Some examples: America: History & Life | Expanded Academic ASAP | Women and Social Movements ]
- You may need to find information in different kinds of sources
[ Books | Journals | Newspapers | Magazines | Media (video, sound recordings) ]
- You may need to explore a subject over a period of time
[ For example: 5 years | 20 years | 1960s | 19th Cenury | 20th Century ]
- It is important to clarify what you are interested in finding out about your topic. In otherwords, be clear about what do you want to know about the topic.
- Create a research question and select keywords
It is a good idea to frame your topic in the manner of a question you are attempting to answer. Review the example below. In this example I'm interested in finding information about Harriet Tubman and her contributions to feminism.
Topic Example:
What was Harriet Tubman's contribution to feminism?
- Create a list of Related Terms. Another way to express this concept is to create a list of synonyms for the important concepts in your topic.
For example: abolitionist, blacks, African Americans, Black Americans, black migration, slaves, slavery, culture, freedom, feminism, social change, prejudice, underground railroad, Southern States, Northern States, black identity
- Narrower terms: (Good for limiting your search, excluding irrelevant information, or adding focus to your search)
- Population - Can be an individual, Harriet Tubman
- Or a group, African Americans or blacks,
men, women, children/teens, groups (artist, educators, clergy, etc.)
- Geography - South, Southern States, Carolinas, Maryland
- Time Period - 1850-1860s
- Broader terms: (Allow you to explore the broader context of your topic. Good if you're having difficulty finding sources)
- United States, social history, migration, social conditions, blacks, culture, feminism, identity, women
- Create a Search Query
Use AND or OR to combine multiple terms/keywords in a search.
See examples below:
- Harriet Tubman AND underground railroad (narrows your search, both terms 'Harriet Tubman' and 'underground railroad' must appear)
- Second 'AND' example: racism AND slavery
- blacks OR African Americans (broadens your search, one of the terms must appear. Good for use with synonyms.)
- Reference Resources, provide general background information on a subject or topic. Examples include encyclopedias, bibilographies, dictionaries, and some handbooks. They can often be a good place to start your research, especially if you have a topic with which you are unfamiliar. The link above will provide both electronic and paper reference sources.
- Finding Books: Use the UW Libraries Catalog to find the location of books on your topic.
- UW Libraries Catalog,
(a listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material available at the University of Washington Libraries.)
Recommend searching by Keyword, Enter terms in search box:
Example, racism AND slavery
You can also search for authors and titles.
The UW Libraries Catalog can also be used to find biographical information.
Example:
Harriet Tubman AND biography.
Use a technique called truncation with the * symbol to search additional forms of a word.
Example: biograph* will also find biography, biographical, biographies.
Harriet Tubman AND biograph*
Additional UW Libraries Catalog Search options.
- Summit Catalog,
(a listing of the books, journal subscriptions and other material available in other university and college libraries in Oregon and Washington, including the UW. You can request books for shipment to the UW with your UWnetID.
- Finding Articles: The following are recommended starting points for finding articles. Enter your keywords into the search box of the database. You can use search strategies above in the article databases.
This image identifies resources where off-campus access is limited to UW students, faculty, and staff.
- American History & Life
[ Good for finding scholarly articles on American and Canadian history. Some links to full-text articles available. Abstract provides summary of articles. Also contains book chapters and dissertations. ]
- Women and Social Movements
[ Good browsable full-text history of women in U.S. social movements, 1600-2000 ]
- Black Studies Center
[ Good for finding information on African American culture and history. Includes many full-text scholarly, magazine, and newspaper articles; disserations, and more... ]
- Expanded Academic ASAP
[ Good for finding full-text scholarly, magazine, and newspaper articles ]
- Literature Resource Center
[ Good for finding literary information, author biographies, criticism, etc. Many articles available full-text. ]
- More…
- Additional Resources
