Chicano Studies CHSTU 410
Review the content on this page before beginning your project. 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 more important processes in conducting research is designing your search strategy. The following are recommended elements in designing your strategy:
- Assignment: Class Project
- 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.
- Understanding the Information Cycle
- You may need to use more than one database
[ Some examples: America: History & Life | Academic Search Complete | Literature Resource Center | Ethnic Newswatch]
- 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 Century | 20th Century ]
- It is important to clarify what you are interested in finding out about
your topic. In other words, be clear about what do you want to know about the
topic.
- Reference Resources
Odegaard and Suzzallo Libraries have many
reference resources--biographical tools, encyclopedias, dictionaries
& bibliographies--that are devoted to the topics of American
literature, history, and culture. They can often be a good place to start your research, if you have a topic with which you are unfamiliar. These resources provide background information
(key historical facts, names of important people/movements) and lists of additional
resources on a particular topic. Below are a few that might be useful for your
project.
- Frame your search and select keywords
It is a good idea to frame your topic in the manner of a question you are attempting to answer.
In what ways have media images influenced Chicano self identity?
- 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.
- Chicano, Latino, Mexican American, Hispanic, television, magazines, self identity, group identity, images, visual impact, ethnicity, cultural identity, perception, stereotypes
- Narrower terms: (Good for limiting your search, excluding irrelevant information, or adding focus to your search)
- Population -men, women, children/teens, groups (artist, educators, clergy, ethnic/racial groups, etc.)
- Geography - cities, states, regions
- Time Period - current, decade, 20th Century
- Broader terms: (Allow you to explore the broader context of your topic. Good if you're having difficulty finding sources)
- Mexican American, Latino, Chicano, Hispanic, media, culture, diversity, social history, ethnicity, race, discrimination, assimilation, social condition, identity
How does the United States racialize Latinos?
- 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.
- Chicano, Latino, Mexican American, Hispanic, racism, discrimination, ethnic conflict, marginalize, perception, stereotypes
- Narrower terms: (Good for limiting your search, excluding irrelevant information, or adding focus to your search)
- Population -men, women, children/teens, groups (artist, educators, clergy, ethnic/racial groups, etc.)
- Geography - cities, states, regions
- Time Period - current, decade, 20th Century
- Broader terms: (Allow you to explore the broader context of your topic. Good if you're having difficulty finding sources)
- Mexican American, Latino, Chicano, Hispanic, media, culture, diversity, social history, ethnicity, race, discrimination, assimilation, social condition
- Create a Search Query
Use AND or OR to combine multiple terms/keywords in a search.
See examples below:
- Chicano AND images (narrows your search, both terms 'Asian Americans' and 'images' must appear)
- Hispanics OR Latinos (broadens your search, one of the terms must appear. Good for use with synonyms.)
- Use a technique called truncation with the * symbol to search additional forms of a word.
Example: cultur* will also find culture, cultures, cultured, cultural, culturing.
Chicano AND cultur*
Be aware that the truncation symbol may vary depending on the database (*,#,?,!) are the most common.
- Evaluate your Search Strategy
[ Criteria for evaluating your research strategies and for evaluating information sources. ]
- Finding Books: Use the UW Libraries Catalog or UW WorldCat to find the location of books on your topic.
- Finding Articles: The following are recommended starting points for finding articles. Enter your keywords into the search box of the database. If you're connecting from off-campus, make sure you click the off-campus access box at the top of this page and log in your UWNetID.
This image identifies resources where off-campus access is limited to UW students, faculty, and staff.
Use your search strategy in these databases.
- America: 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. ]
- Academic search complete
[ Good for finding full-text scholarly, magazine, and newspaper articles ]
- Hispanic American periodicals index
[ Good for finding articles on latina(o) issues ]
- ERIC
[ Good for finding full-text scholarly articles and research reports in the field of education and broad social sciences ]
- Literature resource center
[ Good for finding literary information, author biographies, criticism, etc. Many articles available full-text. Includes access to MLA Bibliography. ]
- Sociological abstracts
[ Good for finding Sociology journal articles; also covers conference papers and dissertations.]
- Additional Resources
