Black Studies is a multidisciplinary field of study. Your research topics may reflect this, and you could find yourself browsing anything from historical sources to medical databases. Choosing your research topic and determining its keywords are important first steps in locating appropriate sources. The videos below demonstrate how to develop a research question or topic, and how to find the keywords within those topics.
You can access databases using the library website. You may be asked to log in with your myUMassD information if you are off campus or using campus WiFi. Databases can contain scholarly (also known as peer-reviewed) journal articles, magazine articles, newspaper articles, and even videos and podcasts. It is important to check your syllabus or ask your professor about the types of sources they would like you to use in your research. The databases have many tools built in to help you quickly narrow down your search results to the most relevant content you can find.
Below are some databases that I recommend you try using. Don't be afraid to try different ones and experiment with search techniques that work best for you!
Search this full-text online collection of scholarly journal articles and ebooks on all subjects. JSTOR stands for "journal storage," so many journals date back to their first issue but may not have the most recent issues available. To find citations for articles unavailable to us in our subscription, just use advanced search and under "Select an access type" choose "All Content."
This database includes citations, abstracts, and full-text articles from scholarly and trade journals, magazines, newspapers, and more. This multidisciplinary database contains the content of the most used ProQuest databases with several subjects areas covered extensively including business and economics, health and medical, news and world affairs, technology, social sciences, and more.
