SDCC Library: Black Studies / African American Studies: Articles & Databases

Why Use Articles?

Current newspaper and magazine articles provide very current information and ideas for a topic. Some may be written by experts in the field or qualified journalists. Journal articles provide schollarly, often peer reviewed in-depth research articles.

See this table for further information about the different types of publications with articles and how they can provide information on your topic.

Journals vs Magazines

When selecting an article for your topic, keep in mind who it's written BY and who it's written FOR. The author's credibility and the audience's reading level may differ greatly between journals and magazines, as would the scholarly quality of the work.

Find Articles by Topic

Here are some suggested databases (article collections) that you can search using keywords or terms for your topic.

Complete list of our databases.

If you are off-campus, you will need to type in your CSID number and last name.

America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
Use if your topic covers American history. Includes history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Some full text.
CountryWatch This link opens in a new window
Entries on the politics, geography, economy, business, environment, and current events of countries around the world.

Contemporary Literary Criticism
Criticism on the works of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, etc., who are living or who died after 1959. Full text.
Dictionary of Literary Biography
Career biographies and criticism on American, British, Canadian, French, German, etc. authors. African American authors are covered in DICTIONARY of LITERARY BIOGRAPHY, v.33, v.38, v.41, v.50, v.51 and v.76.
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Search specifically for individual authors in:
v. 33 Afro-American fiction writers after 1955
v. 38 Afro-American writers after 1955 : dramatists and prose writers
v. 41 Afro-American poets since 1955
v. 50 Afro-American writers before the Harlem Renaissance
v. 51 Afro-American writers from the Harlem Renaissance to 1940

Ethnic NewsWatch [Current] This link opens in a new window
(ProQuest) Articles from ethnic, minority and native press publications. Some full text.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Archived scholarly full-text articles covering topics such as archaeology, classics, ecology, economics, history, mathematics, political science, sociology, and statistics. Also covers African, Asian, Latin American, Middle Eastern, and Slavic studies.
Newspaper Source Plus This link opens in a new window
Fulltext newspaper articles, television and radio news transcripts.
Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
(Gale) Formerly called Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Full-text articles, primary documents, & website links on controversial issues.
U.S. History (Gale in Context) This link opens in a new window
(Gale) Formerly called U.S. History In Context. Historical (primary) documents, reference titles, and articles covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. Some full text.

"New York TImes"
Click and then scroll the alphabetical list to the "New York TImes" 1880- present

Find a Specific Journal or Magazine Title

Browse Print Magazines

Our Periodicals and Newspapers section, located in the Library near the Circulation Desk and the Print Station, has a wide selection of print magazines to browse for ideas and trends related to your area of study. Here are a few titles with their corresponding web sites:

Journal of Black Studies	http://jbs.sagepub.com
Ebony	http://www.ebony.com
Jet	http://www.jetmag.com/godigital
Essence	http://www.essence.com
Black Enterprise	http://www.blackenterprise.com
Upscale Magazine	http://www.upscalemagazine.com