The following databases are good places to begin research on topics relating to African American Studies.
Vendor Lyrasis. Publisher LexisNexis.
INDEXES TO CURRENT JOURNAL LITERATURE
Indexes organize information about articles published within magazines and journals and can be the most efficient way to search for research on a specific topic. Oftentimes the index will link to the full-text of the article.
Covers a wide array of humanities-related disciplines including art, cultural criticism, economics, education, health, history, language and literature, law, philosophy, politics, religion, and sociology.
Can also be searched as part of Black Studies Center.
FULL TEXT DATABASES
These databases provide the full text of books, journals, plays, newspapers and other formats.
Includes pamphlets, periodicals, correspondence, official records and in-depth oral histories.
African American U.S. newspapers from the 19th and 20th century
Complete text of the major African American newspapers published in the U.S and Canada during the 19th c. (Coverage: 19th c. with limited early 20th c.)
Access to Anatomy of Protest made possible by a grant from the Unidel Fund.
Part of the World Newspaper Archive, which can be found on the A-Z Databases page.
This collection can also be searched on Readex AllSearch, an integrated platform that combines Readex’s primary sources into a single cross-searchable interface.
Access to Black Life in America made possible by a grant from the Unidel Fund.
Black Thought and Culture is made available through a grant from the Unidel Foundation.
The database also contains Ethnic NewsWatch: A History, which provides historical coverage of Native American, African American, and Hispanic American periodicals.
Ethnic NewsWatch™ comprehensively covers these ethnic categories:
A module of Archives Unbound. Comprises the FBI's investigative and surveillance efforts primarily during the 1961-1976 period, when James Forman was perceived as a threat to the internal security of the United States. Materials also Include Forman's involvement with the "Black Manifesto" and the FBI's "COINTELPRO" investigations into "Black Nationalist - Hate Groups / Internal Security," which include information on the activities of SNCC.
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gales digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
The site works best in modern browsers like Chrome, Safari, Edge, and Firefox. It will not work in Internet Explorer.
History Vault is comprised of many American history primary source collections. The UD Library focuses on providing access to those modules related to African American history:
(Purchase of the NAACP Papers, Plantation Papers, and Slavery and the Law was made possible through a grant from the Unidel Foundation.)
Titles included:
This collection can also be searched on Gale Primary Sources, an integrated platform that combines Gales digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
A digital library that aggregates materials documenting African American history and cultural life from archives, libraries, museums, and other U.S. repositories. It features photographs, manuscripts, documents, books, sound files, video files, and other freely available resources.
Umbra Search is also a widget that can be embedded in any digital environment, allowing users to access Umbra Search from other sites. Widget instructions can be found on the Umbra Search website.
There are many databases that are useful for the study of various aspects of African American Studies. The following are the ones most frequently consulted, but researchers should also consult the Library Databases page to determine whether there are other discipline-specific databases that are suitable for their given research topic. For example, researchers pursuing topics related to the health care of African American populations could also consult the nursing (CINAHL) and medical (PubMed) databases.
SUBJECT-SPECIFIC
Index of scholarly literature covering the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
Provides indexing of academic journals dating back to 1954, with some coverage for titles back to the early 20th century.
Indexing, abstracts and citations for hundreds of periodicals on art, art history and related disciplines. (Coverage: Abstracts, 1984 --, Indexes, 1929-1984)
Subjects include art history and criticism, architecture and architectural history, archaeology, antiques, museum studies, graphic arts, industrial design, landscape architecture, interior design, folk art, painting, photography, pottery, sculpture, decorative arts, costume design, television and video, motion pictures, advertising art, non-western art, textiles, and related fields.
Full-text for thousands of journals, covering all disciplines of business. (Coverage: Varies according to journal, some back to 1922.)
Poetry and fiction produced in the region during the 19th and 20th centuries. Includes numerous rare and hard-to-find works written in English, French, Spanish, Dutch, and various Creole languages.
Includes more than 10,000 pages of works written in languages such as Papiamento, French Creole, Jamaican Creole, Belizean Kriol, Singlish, and Sranam Tongo.Translations of major works, dictionaries, and reference materials are included.
The acquisition of this database was made possible through the support of the Unidel Foundation.
Bibliographic database for criminal justice and criminology research. Provides cover-to-cover indexing and abstracts for journals covering all related subjects, including forensic sciences, corrections, policing, criminal law, and investigation. (Coverage 1968 --)
Indexed bibliography, with selected abstracts, of publications on economics
The American Economic Associations electronic bibliography of economics literature throughout the world. Contains abstracts, indexing, and links to full-text articles. Provides comprehensive information on accounting, capital markets, econometrics, economic forecasting, government regulations, labor economics, monetary theory, urban economics and more. (Coverage: 1886 --)
Indexes and abstracts as well as some full-text education journals. Covers all levels of education, from early childhood to higher education. Also includes a collection of videos that provide practical online teacher training that addresses the evolving landscape of education.
Citations and abstracts to articles in education journals and documents. Full-text available via GetIt! for UD Library subscribed titles. Also contains resources on training and development; library and information science. (Coverage: 1966 --)
Full-text collection of international journals, magazines, newsletters, regional publications, special reports and conference proceedings devoted to womens and gender issues. (Coverage: mid-1970s --)
Contains a significant body of archival material dating back to the mid-1970s. Additional archival material continues to be added.
Journals, investment reports, directory listings and newswire releases, as well as indexing of national newspapers.
Excellent source of information on management theories, business law, key industries, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, international trade, new technologies, small and emerging companies, marketing and advertising, job-hunting strategies, and banking.
General discography of all categories of recorded jazz and other creative improvised music, including Traditional, Swing, Bop, Modern, Avant-garde, Fusion, Third Stream, etc. (Coverage: 1896 --)
Subscription is for 2 simultaneous users.
Provides a detailed listing of recording sessions, each with specific information:
Leader name (or Group name)
Published album title
Group name
Musicians, with instrument(s) played
Location and date of recording session
Tune names, including “matrix” and release numbers for 78 and 45 rpm, LPs, CDs and DLs (Internet downloads)
Literature Online Complete provides access to:
English poetry from 600 to the present
American and African-American poetry from 1603 to the present
The Faber Poetry Library
English drama (including Shakespeare) from 1280 to 1915
English prose from 1500 to 1900
Includes access to the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (ABELL) with associated full-text, major literary reference works, and websites selected for their relevance to literary studies.
Can be searched in conjunction with the MLA Directory of Periodicals, which contains all information available on journals and series on the Bibliographys Master List. The Directory of Periodicals is included in the Bibliography.
Indexing and abstracts for over 400 international music periodicals, plus full-text for over 200 journals. Scholarly and popular music journals included. (Coverage: c. 1996 - present. Retrospective indexing back to 1874.)
Indexes the international literature of sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. (Coverage: 1952 --)
Can also be searched as part Social Services Abstracts.
Full-text literature for sports and sports medicine. Provides extensive coverage in the areas of fitness, health, physical therapy, exercise science and other sport studies. (Coverage: 1930 --)
Bibliographic database for womens studies and feminist research. A valuable resource for many disciplines, including sociology, history, international relations, humanities.
Provides indexing and abstracts for essential sources including: journals, newsletters, bulletins, books, book chapters, reports, theses, dissertations, and grey literature.
GENERAL/MULTIDISCIPLINARY
The world's most comprehensive curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world, offering over 5 million citations and 3 million full-text works from thousands of universities.
Citations to articles in English-language periodicals. Covers some of the best-known scholarly journals and numerous lesser-known, but important specialized magazines. Subjects include a wide range of interdisciplinary fields covered in a broad array of humanities and social sciences journals. (Coverage: 1907-1984)
An index to the contents of journals and magazines in the humanities and social sciences, from their first issues through 1995, with links to the full-text of some articles. (Coverage: 1665-1995)
Indexing and full-text of popular periodicals. (Coverage: Readers Guide Index, 1983 -- | Readers Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982)
A cross-disciplinary research methods tool. Provides full access to Sage books, journal articles, reference works, case studies, sample datasets and videos about designing and conducting a research project, specific research methods, performing a literature review, and writing about research results.
A collection of databases that can be searched individually or in various combinations. WoS indexs the world’s leading scholarly literature in the sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, as published in journals, conference proceedings, symposia, seminars, colloquia, and workshops across the globe.