Yale University Library Research Guides: AFAM 480: Senior Colloquium: African American Studies: Home

Yale Library Search Tools

The main search tools for finding books, articles, databases, archival collections, and more at Yale (and beyond) can all be found on the "Find, Request, and Use" page of the library's website. Here are a few quick refreshers, but be sure to visit the page for a full overview:

Orbis (classic catalog)
Searches books, e-books, journals (but not individual articles), government documents, and other physical and digital items. It's the classic catalog of Yale Library *not* including items from the Law Library. Can be used to find both primary and secondary sources.
Morris (classic catalog of Law Library)
If your topic relates to legal history or potentially involves research in legal materials, be sure to include Morris in your search, or alternatively to use Books+ (which searches both Morris and Orbis).
Quicksearch
A combined search of the library's books, journals and journal articles, licensed databases, digitized archival collections, and more. Searches Orbis as well as Morris, which is the Law Library catalog. A vast, Google-like search, but some library materials will still not be retrieved by it, and the advanced search refinements and options to use just one part of Quicksearch or another can be key to running efficient, manageable, and successful searches.
Articles+
Within Quicksearch, Articles+ can be a powerful tool for finding individual journal, newspaper, and magazine articles.
Books+
Within Quicksearch, Books+ will limit your search to the books (and reports and numerous other monographs, as opposed to journal articles) that are found across the Yale Libraries. Orbis + Morris (Law Library) collections are searched together.
Archives at Yale
The search portal for finding archival materials at Yale. Look for the Scope & Contents notes, inventories, and PDF Finding Aids to assess the relevance of materials to your research project.
Also see the Guide to Using Special Collections at Yale University for more information on finding, requesting, and using archival materials in the Yale Library.
Yale Library Digital Collections
Access to millions of digitized works and images from the Yale Library. This site is a living database, and new materials are added regularly.

Background sources

Background or "reference" sources are a great place to start in building your bibliographies. These are scholarly encyclopedias, handbooks, bibliographies, and similar sources that will often contain lengthy essays with background information on a topic and overviews of the relevant scholarship. Citations to the secondary literature will always be included, and often so too will citations to primary sources.

ProQuest Black Studies

This resource brings together many reference as well as primary and secondary sources. Includes collections of Black historical newspapers, archival primary source collections such as the Papers of the NAACP, academic journals, video content, and the Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience.

Oxford African American Studies Center

Comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture.

Oxford Bibliographies

Oxford Bibliographies offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on specific topics across varied subject areas. Each of these features an introduction to the topic. Bibliographies can be browsed by subject area and searched by keyword. Subject areas include African American Studies, African Studies, Anthropology, Art History, Cinema and Media Studies, Literary and Critical Theory, Political Science, Sociology, and more.

Oxford Handbooks Online

Includes numerous handbooks, usually with lengthy chapter overviews of topics. A few examples of titles that are part of this collection are The Oxford Handbook of African American Theology, The Oxford Handbook of African American Citizenship, 1865-Present, and The Oxford Handbook of the African American Slave Narrative.

Oxford Research Encyclopedias:

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion