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Research Guides

Ethnic Studies: Get Started

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Reference Desk Hours

Sunday 2:00PM - 10:00PM
Monday 10:00AM - 10:00PM
Tuesday 10:00AM - 10:00PM
Wednesday      10:00AM - 10:00PM
Thursday 10:00AM - 10:00PM
Friday 10:00AM - 3:00PM
Saturday 12:00PM - 5:00PM

*Closed on holidays

Selected Reference Sources

Reference Databases

Didn't find what you were looking for in the books above? Try searching through one of our e-Reference database collections. Browse topic ideas and get background information:

Research Tips

When researching different ethnic groups it is crucial that you take the time to figure out all of the different ways that your demographic can be referred to. For example:

  • Korean Americans can be referred to as Corean Americans
  • Filipino Americans can be referred to as Pilipino Americans
  • Black Caribbean Americans can be referred to as Afro-Cuban Americans
  • Mexican Americans can be referred to as Chicano or Chicana
  • Latin Americans can be referred to as Latinx or Hispanic American or Latino American

Also be aware that researchers may only refer to the larger demographic group in the abstract of an article but may have sections devoted to your narrow demographic group in the article itself. To capture those articles try using the following search strategy:

  • Hispanic American (limited to the abstract field) AND Mexican American (limited to the full text field)
  • Asian American (limited to the abstract field) AND (Korean American OR Corean American) (limited to the full text field)

These search tips work in our library databases and Library Catalog:

  • Combine keywords using AND and OR.
    • Use AND for searching different ideas within your topic. E.g. youth AND homelessness
    • Use OR for searching with synonyms of your keywords. E.g. (youth OR teen) AND homelessness
  • Abbreviate words with multiple endings using an asterisk (*). E.g. homeless* to search both homeless and homelessness
  • Search specific phrases using quotation marks. E.g. "Runaway and Homeless Youth Act"
  • Change your search terms around to get different results.

Use these tips to help you choose a research topic:

  • To brainstorm ideas to research, try browsing:
    • News in your subject area. (Google sociology news to find websites to browse.)
    • The table of contents of a book or encyclopedia in your subject area.
  • Do some initial searching on one or more topic ideas, using our main library search box or Google.
  • Refine your topic based on what you find:
    • Maybe you found a slight variation or different direction you want to go in.
    • Tons of results? Consider narrowing your topic to focus on a smaller aspect of it.
    • Hardly any results? You may need to broaden your topic and make it less specific.
  • In the end, choose something you're interested in.

If you want to discuss topic ideas, stop by the Reference Desk to chat with a librarian.

Reference sources include encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries.  They are a great place to begin your research, since they can help with the following:

  • Offer ideas for possible research topics
  • Give you background information on your topic
  • Define unfamiliar terms
  • Suggest keywords to use when searching for books and articles
  • Point you to books and articles on your topic, via "works cited" lists