Sociology 230: Sociology of Race and Ethnicity

Fall 2006

 

INFORMATION LITERACY TUTORIAL

The Five Colleges of Ohio Information Literacy Tutorial can provide you with additional guidance in undertaking the research process.

 

SELECTING A TOPIC

Reference works, such as encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries, are a good place to begin your research or search for ideas for a research topic. They provide an overview of a subject, and often contain bibliographies that will lead you to additional resources on your topic.

Some of the more useful reference works related to the course research project include:

American Attitudes: What Americans Thing About The Issues That Shape Their Lives, 4th edition
[Ref. HN 90 P8 A527 2005]
Contains a variety of relatively recent survey and poll results. This particular edition was published in 2005. Kenyon's reference section also contains the 1998 and 2000 editions which would allow one to see how poll results have changed over a short period of time.

 

American Immigrant Culture: Builders of a Nation [Ref. E184 A1 A63448 1997]
About assimilation and how various immigrant cultures have assimilated into the United States.

 

Civil Rights in the United States [Ref. E184 .A1 C47 2000]
This two-volume set covers major people, organizations, and concepts in the history of civil rights in America. It focuses heavily on African-American civil rights, but includes other racial, ethnic, and other "marginalized" groups. Most of the articles are a page long or less; all entries are signed and include bibliographies.

Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States [Ref. E184 S75 O97 2005]
A 4-volume set on the history of Latinos in the United States

 

The Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States [Ref. E184 S75 O97 2005]
A 4-volume set with topics history, status, and contemporary experiences of Latinos in the U.S.

 

Gale Encyclopedia of Multiculural America [Ref. E184 A1 G14 1995]
A 2-volume set of essays which address a distinct ethnic, ethnoreligious, or Native American group.

 

Gale Encyclopedia of Multiculural America Primary Documents [Ref. E184 A1 G15 1999]
A 2-volume set designed to be a companion to the Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America that brings history to life by discussing key events as well as examples of daily life through the eyes of the writer and participant.

 

Race and Crime: An Annotated Bibliography [Ref. HV6197 .U5 R87 2000]
An annotated bibliography provides a list of books, journal articles, government documents, and other resources related to a topic, with short descriptions of the works included. This one-volume work is organized into collections of race-specific and multi-racial or general research.

Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2006 [Info Desk HA 202 A1 2006]
Published by the U.S. Government's Bureau of the Census, and has yearly editions dating back to 1878, Statistical Abstract is the authoratative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic organization of the United States. It is known as the National Data Book.

 

Statistical Record of Asian Americans [Ref. E184 O6 S73 1993]
Statistical record of Asian and Pacific Islanders in the U.S. and Canada

 

BOOKS AND VIDEOS

The CONSORT catalog can be used to locate books, video and sound recordings, and some government documents available in the Kenyon, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan and Wooster libraries. CONSORT also provides access to OhioLINK, which indicates the holdings of over 70 libraries throughout Ohio. You may borrow books directly from either CONSORT or OhioLINK. Requested materials from Denison typically arrive at Kenyon the day after the request is made. Requested materials from the other CONSORT and OhioLINK schools typically arrive at Kenyon 2 to 3 working days after the request is made.

 

Possible Subject Headings:

The Multimedia Collections Unit, located on the second floor of the library, is available for viewing and editing films.

  • Editing Resources Available
    The Multimedia Collections Unit has six Apple computers intended for both the creation and manipulation of digital still and moving images. Two workstations are housed within the Multimedia Collections unit, and are available for use during the posted hours of that department. Four additional workstations are arranged together just outside the Multimedia Collections unit on the second floor of thelibrary, and are available all open hours of the library. Final Cut Pro and iMovie software are provided.
  • Viewing and Listening Resources Available
    The Kenyon College Multimedia Collection unit maintains a collection of over 8,000 combined commercial VHS, Laser Disk, and DVD titles; and 15,000 commercial CD, LP and audiocassette tape recordings. You may view multimedia materials in one of the 6 Private Viewing & Audio Carrels, 3 Audio Carrels with Phonographs, or by checking out one of 6 circulating portable DVD/CD players.

 

ARTICLE DATABASES

Journal articles, as well as some books, essays, etc., in the social and physical sciences can be located using a variety of indexes. Keep in mind that not every journal or book title indexed will be held in the Kenyon Library. Check CONSORT to see if we own an item. Use the inter-library loan (ILL) office to request journal articles we do not own. (Estimated time for an item to arrive is at least 7-10 days).

Academic Search Premier (1965- )
An interdisciplinary index, Academic Search Premier includes citations and abstracts for over 4,300 popular and academic periodicals. The full text of many of the articles indexed is available.

ISI Citation Indexes (1990 - )
Web-based access to both the Social Sciences Citation Index, covering over 1,700 journals, and Science Citation Index Expanded, covering over 5,300 journals. Perform a general search using subject terms, author, journal title, or author affiliation; or find out who has cited a particular work by doing a Cited Reference Search.

Sociological Abstracts (1963-2005)
[Also in print at Ref. HM1 .S67 (1952-1963)]
A primary resource for accessing the latest research sponsored in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database draws information from an international selection of over 2,600 journals and other serials publications, plus conference papers, books, and dissertations.

America: History and Life (1964- )
Indexes and abstracts scholarly literature on the history of the United States and Canada, from prehistoric times to the present.

Anthropological Literature (1983- )
Indexes articles from over 1,000 journals and 200 edited works each year in anthropology and related fields.

PsycINFO (1967- )
PsycINFO is the primary index of psychological literature, as well as related disciplines. It indexes over 1300 journals, English language books and book chapters, dissertations and technical reports.

PAIS (1972- )
[Also in print at Ref. HB1 .A1 P34 (1917-1972)]
Indexes and abstracts the world's public affairs literature. Fields covered include political science, international relations, economics, and other social sciences. Types of materials indexed included journal articles; books; government documents; and statistical compilations.

 

HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS

LexisNexis Primary Sources in U.S. History
This site provides access to a variety of materials including legislation, court cases, manuscript material, autobiographies, reference and scholarly articles, photographs, speeches, and government documents.

AP Photo Archives
The AP Photo Archive contains some 700,000 images featuring state, regional and national photos from North America, as well as the best of the international photo report.

ARTstor
The ARTstor Charter Collection currently contains approximately 300,000 images and is growing. The Charter Collection documents artistic and material culture traditions across many times and cultures. Along with painting and sculpture, it includes photography and costume. For this class, "The Carnegie Arts of the United States Collection" may be most interesting.

American Memory
The American Memory Historical Collections, sponsored by the Library of Congress' National Digital Library Program, are collections of digitized documents, photographs, audio, and video from the Library of Congress and other research collections nationwide.

National Archives Online Exhibits
Digitized images of documents from the National Archives, from the voting record of the Constitutional Convention through items of folk art sent as gifts to President Clinton.

Historical Graphics Gallery
This site includes one of the largest collections online of political cartoons from American history, as well as activist photography, political art, and advertising.

 

POPULAR CULTURE

There are several resources which can help you locate popular movies, television episodes, and literature dealing with specific topics, including:

Internet Movie Database
This site allows you to do a keyword search for movies and/or television series on a particular topic. Scroll down to reach the word search box. Select "plots" from the pull-down menu to search for words in the plot summary.

Encyclopedia of Television, 2nd edition [Ref. PN1992.18 .E53 2004]
This four-volume encyclopedia has articles on many different series, as well as topical articles. The article on "Race, Ethnicity, and Television" may be helpful.

St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture[Ref. E169.1 .S764 2000]
This five-volume set provides lengthy articles on several thousand topics. Entries also include bibliographies.

 

ORGANIZATIONS AND INTEREST GROUPS

Encyclopedia of Associations [Info Desk AS22.E5 43rd ed.]
This resource contains detailed listings for thousands of organizations in the United States. The URLs of the organizations' web sites are often provided.

GuideStar: The National Database of Nonprofit Organizations
This database lists over 700,000 nonprofit organizations in the United States.

 

EVALUATING INFORMATION

In any format, it is absolutely vital that you evaluate the information you find, to judge whether it is biased or objective, limited or comprehensive, reliable or unreliable. This list of criteria for evaluating Web sites applies just as much to print, radio, television, and video information sources.

 

GETTING RESEARCH HELP

For individual reference assistance, contact:

Julia Glynn
Librarian and Technology Consultant
740.427-5834

Reference assistance is also available at the Information Desk in Olin Library.
Stop by or call (740.427.5691)

Hours