African American Research Starter:

Search Tips

On this page you will find tips and suggestions for accessing resources within our African American studies collection. Scroll down the page for information tailored specifically to researching African American studies topics. In the Example searches box you will also find a list of searches that have already been performed, giving you access to scholarly search results on a variety of topics.

You can use the skills and tips presented here to access our African American studies collection.

Need a refresher on how to search within a database?  

• Searching and Finding Information in the Library Databases
• Keyword Searching: Find Articles on Your Topic

A subject term is a standardized word or phrase that describes a main idea in the article.

When an article is added to a database, the database will assign subject terms to the article from the database's list of subjects. Most articles will have from 3 to 12 subject terms.

Each database has its own set list of subject terms. Subject terms may use technical jargon and odd punctuation. This means you won't be able to easily guess or intuit subject terms on your own. You will have to identify the subject terms in the database, and then use them in a search.

If you want to see all the subject terms used in a particular database, you can search the Subject Index to discover subject terms.

Note: Language regarding African Americans has changed over recent decades. The following list suggests subject terms for research on African American population. Terms that are no longer current are marked historical.

There are many social movements and institutions that are closely related to the African American population. Consider using the names of these movements and institutions as search terms. Some examples include:

Some of the following terms might also prove helpful when conducting research on African American culture or issues.

The following searches were conducted in our multi-database search tool. All results use subject terms when appropriate, are peer-reviewed, and available in full text in the Walden Library. Click any of the links below to view the search results.

• African Americans OR Blacks OR Black Americans
• African diaspora
• African American studies OR Black studies
• African American culture OR Black culture
• Race or Race relations
• African Americans OR Blacks AND Discrimination
• African Americans OR Blacks AND Segregation
• African Americans OR Blacks AND Equal rights
• African Americans OR Blacks AND Civil Rights Movement
• African Americans OR Blacks AND Affirmative Action
• African American history OR Black history
• African American literature OR Black literature
• Black Nationalism OR Black power OR Afrocentrism
• Ebonics OR Black dialects OR Black English OR African American English
• African American identity OR Black identity

Check out the Use example searches box for information on how to modify these example searches to meet your specific search criteria.

You can adapt any of the preset example searches by adding your own search terms.

If you wished to focus on a health condition in a particular population, you would add your term for the health condition to a separate search box, while leaving the example population search terms in place. This is an example search for a preset population and diabetes:

1. Click on a preset example search from the list.
2. On the results page, locate the search boxes at the top of the page. Leave the example search terms in place in the first search box, in this case the population terms African Americans OR Blacks OR Black Americans.
3. Enter your search term(s) in an empty search box. In this case, enter diabetes in the second search box.
   
   
    
4.  Once you've added your search term(s), click the Search button and review the new results.

You can continue to add other search terms, apply limiters, and shape the search as often as needed to obtain new results.