Finding Books on a Particular Topic:
Start with a keyword search. When starting your keywords search try to do a balance search—not too broad but not to narrow either. Something too broad will bring 10,000 hits, while something too narrow can bring 0 results. Start a search using the preferred term "African Americans" + your topic of choice. Use several synonymous that describe your topic to be sure that you find everything that you need.
If you find books on your topic, check the subjects listed in the library record. Those subjects can be used to find more books on your topic. Also, looks at the terms used in academic articles or books to be sure to capture all the possible terms used to describe your topic.
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
If you are new to the field of Africana Studies, one way to learn more about your topic and to find useful keywords for your searches, is to consult encyclopedias and handbooks. These type of books offer the background information that will help you formulate your research question.
Africana by Inspired by the dream of the late African American scholar W.E.B. Du Bois and assisted by an eminent advisory board, Harvard scholars Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Kwame Anthony Appiah have created the first scholarly encyclopedia to take as its scope the entire history of Africa and the African Diaspora.
Encyclopedia of Black Studies by The concept for the encyclopedia was developed from the successful Journal of Black Studies (SAGE) and contains a full analysis of the economic, political, sociological, historical, literary, and philosophical issues related to Americans of African descent.
The Columbia Guide to African American History Since 1939 by This book is a multifaceted approach to understanding the central developments in African American history since 1939. It combines a historical overview of key personalities and movements with essays by leading scholars on specific facets of the African American experience, a chronology of events, and a guide to further study.
- Oxford African American Studies CenterOver 10,000 scholarly encyclopedia articles, from titles like the Encyclopedia of African American History, the Encyclopedia of African American History, Black Women in America, and the African American National Biography. Also contains maps and historical images.
Find Books by Black Studies Scholars
Another way to find useful books for your research is to see the books published by expert in the field. Below is a list of well known Africana studies scholars who you can check out for inspiration to pick a topic or to get academic books on your research topic.
Dramatic Works by Black Authors
- Black DramaContains the full text of 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. More than 40 percent of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays by writers such as Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Amiri Baraka, Randolph Edmonds, Zora Neale Hurston, and many others.
