Databases to get you started on your research
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowOne of the most comprehensive databases in the social sciences, Sociological Abstracts includes coverage of fields including anthropology, economics, education, medicine, community development, philosophy, demography, political science, and social psychology. Includes abstracts of journal articles, conference papers, dissertations, books, and book reviews.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowAn archive of core, scholarly journals from a variety of subject areas. Coverage begins with the very first issue through all but recent years.
- HAPI This link opens in a new windowHispanic American Periodicals Index, a searchable index of information about Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, the United States-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the United States. Includes citations from more than 400 social sciences and humanities journals published from 1970 to the present.
Subject Terms
"Hispanic" and "Latino" are frequently used in literature describing native Spanish-speaking populations in the United States. "Latinx" is a more recent term, and you will find some materials under this heading. Here are examples of other Library of Congress subject headings:
- Hispanic Americans
- Cuban Americans
- Dominican Americans
- Mexican Americans
- Puerto Ricans
These subject headings generally refer to U.S. citizens descended from particular regions or countries.
Generating keywords for your searches
To come up with keywords for your research, consider doing the following:
1. Think carefully about your topic. Write it out in a sentence or two.
2. Circle the key concepts in your topic sentences.
3. Brainstorm synonyms or related terms for your key concepts. One approach to brainstorming is to create a concept map. You can do this with simple pen and paper or via free online programs such as Coggle (you will need to sign in with a Google account to use Coggle) or Bubbl.us.
4. These are now your search terms. Experiment with different combinations of the terms as you search in databases.
5. When you successfully find sources that are relevant to your search, pay attention to the keywords and subject terms in the database record and the source itself. This may lead you to additional sources.
News Sources
- New York Times Online This link opens in a new windowNews from The New York Times newspaper. Requires personal registration. See our guide for account activation instructions.
- Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new windowComprehensive full-text database of the newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press from 1991 to the present. Searches are available in English and Spanish, as well as by article type and ethnic group.
Subject Librarian
Research Help Area, Room 112
570.577.1068
carrie.pirmann@bucknell.edu
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday, 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM