This guide points out some of the reference materials available--both print and electronic--that have an emphasis on diversity or focus on a particular culture group. It is by no means complete, but serves as a sampling of what the reference collection offers; don't hesitate to ask a librarian for assistance if you aren't finding what you need.

Please note that many books on international affairs are shelved in the Hasselquist International Studies Room, directly behind the reference desk.

Reference Works / Browsing for Books / Indexes and Databases / Web sites

Reference Works

Diversity in the United States

General

American Immigrant Cultures: Builders of a Nation. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1997. (Ref E184.A1 A63448 1997) Covers culture groups from Acadians to Zoroastrians, covering each groups defining features, patterns of cultural variation, immigration history, demographics, cultural characteristics, and relevant published literature.

Civil Rights in the United States. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. (Ref E184.A1 C47 2000) Entries include biographical sketches, organizations, legislation, major historical events and terms related to civil rights.

Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture. London: Sage Publications, 2003. (Ref GN495.6.D53 2003) Although called a dictionary, this resource contains longer entries covering a variety of terms and concepts including acculturation, eurocentrism, melting pot, racism and tolerance.

Encyclopedia of American Immigration. 4 vols. Armonk: Sharpe, 2000. (Ref JV 6465 .E53) Covers historical and contemporary issues in immigration policy, provides coverage of social and cultural issues and background on specific immigrant groups. The final section reproduces key legal documents from the US Constitution to late twentieth-century immigration legislation and executive orders.

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. 2nd ed. 3 vols. Detroit: Gale, 2000. (Ref E 184 .A1 G14 2000) Offers over 150 substantial essays on ethnic groups in the U. S., covering origins, circumstances of arrival, family, community, culture, economy, politics, and significant contributions. Each essay ends with a bibliography and contacts for further research.

Racial and Ethnic Relations in America. Pasadena, California: Salem Press, 2000. (Ref E49.R33 2000) Arranged like an encyclopedia, this three-volume set includes entries about theories and terms concerning racial relations, ethnic groups, historical events, current events, current and historical legislation, ethnic participation in the arts, and ethnic organizations.

Peck, David R. American Ethnic Literatures: Native American, African American, Chicano/Latino, and Asian American Writers and their Backgrounds: An Annotated Bibliography. Pasdena: Salem, 1992. (Ref PS 153 .M56 P48 1992) A useful guide to the literature, offering annotated leads to a wealth of information on writers and their works.

African-Americans

African-American Orators: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook. Westport: Greenwood, 1996 (Ref E 185.96 .A447 1996) A collection of essays that profile the life and work of African American speakers in substantial essays written by specialists. Each entry is followed by a list of information sources and a chronology of speeches.

African American Writers. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2001. (Ref PS153.N5 A344 2001) Biographies of authors and critical examinations of their works are included in this resource.

Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African-American Experience.2nd ed. 5 vols. New York: Oxford, 2005. (Ref DT14 .A37435 2005) A rich compendium of information about the African diaspora edited by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates.

Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History. 5 vols. New York: Simon and Schuster Macmillan, 1996 (Ref E 185 .E54 1996) A wide-ranging encyclopedia covering people, places, events, concepts, and topics of all sorts. Articles are written by specialists and have useful bibliographies. Edited by Jack Salzman, David Lionel Smith, and Cornel West.

Encyclopedia of African American Religions. New York: Garland, 1993. (Ref BR 563 .E53 1993) Offers substantial articles on people, organizations, churches, and topics such as "preaching and the preacher in African American Religion" and "theology, black." Includes chronology and introductory essays as well as a thorough bibliography.

Asian-Americans

The Asian American Almanac. Detroit: Gale, 1995. (Ref E 184.O6 A824 1995) This resource is a compendium of social, historical, cultural and statistical information on Asian Americans that includes chronologies and biographies.

Avakian, Monique. Atlas of Asian-American History. New York: Facts on Files, 2002. (Ref E184.O6 A89 2002) Provides a history of Asians in America focusing on the issues of immigration, migration and racial discrimination. Many photographs, pictures, maps and charts accompany the text. Focuses on major immigrant groups including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Asian-Indian, Filipino and Southeast Asian peoples.

Latino-Americans

Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States. 4 vols. Danbury: Grolier, 2005. (Ref E 184 .S75 E587 2005) Covers Latinos in the United states in over 650 essays that tackle topics from baseball to Zorro, significant places, groups of people, event, and more. The fourth volume includes significant primary source documents.

Hispanic-American Almanac. 3rd ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. (Ref E 184 .S75 H557 2003) Includes an historical overview, information on Spanish explorers, selections from historical documents, and information n social and cultural issues.

Handbook of Hispanic Culture in the United States. 4 vols. Houston: Arte Publico, 1993. (Ref E184.S75 H365 1993) A survey of art, history, sociology, and anthropology of Hispanic Americans. Articles are lengthy and well-illustrated.

Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States. 4 vols. New York: Oxford, 2005. (Ref E 184 .S75 O97 2005) Provides lengthy, scholarly articles on all aspects of the topic, including intellectual, social, cultural, and political issues.

Native Americans

Dictionary of Native American Literature. New York: Garland, 1994. (Ref PM 155 .D53 1994) For biographical and critical information about Native American authors and their works. Bibliographies included for further research.

Documents of American Indian Diplomacy: Treaties, Agreements, and Conventions, 1775-1979. 2 vols. Norman: University of Okahoma, 1999. (Ref KF 8202 1999) A collection of legal and diplomatic documents, including analysis and context. A remarkable collection that builds on Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties (Ref KF8203 1972b . This work is edited by Vine Deloria, Jr. and Raymond J. DeMallie.

Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale, 1998 (Ref E77 .G15 1998) Offers surveys of tribes, including history, migration, subsistence, modern history, and current issues. Use the index to locate nations that may have more than one name in use (e.g. Anishinabe / Ojibwe / Chippewa).

Gill, Sam D. and Irene F. Sullivan. Dictionary of Native American Mythology. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio, 1992. (Ref E 98 .R3 G46 1992) A quick place to locate basic information about figures, events, and topics in Native North American mythology, from all tribes and periods. Includes a useful bibliography.

Waldman, Carl. Biographical Dictionary of American Indian History to 1900. New York: Facts on File, 2001. (E 89.W35 2001) Includes entries on American Indians and non-Indians including allies, scholars and policy-makers. Includes indexes, which list entries by tribe, area of activity, topic and historical period.

Whitson, Kathy J. Native American Literatures: An Encyclopedia of Works, Characters, Authors, and Themes. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 1999. (Ref PS153.I52 W47 1999) Provides entries on major authors, their works and characters.

International Resources

Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia. 3 vols. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2003. (Ref JV 22 .C65 2003) An interdisciplinary approach to "cultural concepts and intellectual ideas crucial to an understanding of colonialism in the modern world." Covers key geographical andm cultural concepts, as well as significant individuals, movements, and events. A number of pirmary source documents are included in the third volume.

Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. 2 vols. London: Routledge, 1994. (Ref PR .A52 E53 1994) Offers articles on writers, genres by nationality or region, and topics such as "censorship." Entries were compiled by an international group of specialists and are intended to cover literatures in English from parts of the world influenced by imperialism from the moment of colonization to the present. Many of the writers covered are not profiled in other reference works.

Encyclopedia of World Cultures. 10 vols. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1991-. (Ref GN 550 .E53 1991) Covers over 1,500 culture groups, alphabetically arranged within regions. The information summarizes information on the distribution, belief systems, kinship structures, and history of the groups and provides selective bibliographies for further research. Consult the index to determine the appropriate name for a particular culture group.

Area Studies - Africa

Africa Contemporary Record : Annual Survey and Documents. New York: Africana, 1967- (Ref DT1 .L43) A series that profiles African nations in detail and provides reprints of important documents relating to the continent on an annual basis. It is slow and intermittant in its publication, so don't rely on this source for the most current data.

Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara. 4 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1997. (Ref DT351 .E53 1997) Covers the peoples, civilizations, and history of Africa. Articles cover countries, individuals, ethnic groups, and many topics such as African art, transportation, gender, ecosystems, symbolism, and religion.

Encyclopedia of African History and Culture. 5 vols. New York: Facts on File, 2005. (Ref DT 3 .P27 2005) Each volume covers a different period in African history, from ancient times to independence. Within each volume brief articles cover countries, ethnic groups, important historical figures, events, and concepts. For each volume, there are maps and chronologies for the period covered. Both North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa are included in coverage.

Area Studies - Middle East and Asia

Encyclopedia of Asian History. 4 vols. New York: Scribner, 1988. (Ref DS 31 .E53 1987) Discusses people, places, events, and topics in detailed and well-documented essays, covering Central Asia, South Asia, and the Far East.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. New York: Routledge, 2005 (Ref DS 779.23 .E53 2005) Provides background on a wide variety of topics, from architecture and city planning to ethnicity and ethnic identity; from food to film, from political culture to religion.

Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. 6 vols. New York: Scribner's, 2002. (Ref DS 4 .L48 2002) Intended to be the most comprehensive standard reference work on the region, this set covers East, Southeast, South, Central, and West-Southwest Central Asia, from Japan to Turkey, Khazakstan to Indonesia. The focus in on the twentieth century, with articles covering places, peoples, geography, the arts, economics, religion, and more.

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. 2nd ed. 4 vols. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004. (Ref DS 43 .E53 2004) Covers a wide variety of topics in politics, history, economics, religion, sociology, culture, and geography of 23 predominantly Muslim countries. Articles are intended for a non-specialist readership, and controversial issues are covered in a non-partisan manner.

Area Studies - Europe

Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000. 6 vols. New York: Scribner, 2001 (Ref HN373 .E63 2001) Offers substantial, well-documented survey essays on topics such as social change, urban and rural life, gender, popular culture, religion, and everyday life.

Encyclopedia of Contemporary French Culture. London: Routledge, 1998. (Ref DC33.7.E53 1998) Covers various facets of French culture including film, intellectual life, media, music, performing arts and politics. Provides brief biographies of major figures in French culture. There are similar encyclopedias for several other European cultures.

Enyclopedia of Eastern Europe from the Congress of Vienna to the Fall of Communism. New York: Garland, 2000. (Ref DJK 6 .E53 2000) Offers long essays on the countries and regions of Eastern Europe as well as shorter entries on history, geography, culture, concepts, and prominent figures.

Europe Since 1945. 2 vols. New York: Garland, 2001. (Ref D 1051 .E97 2001) Though its focus is primarily on political developments, this set also covers cultural, economic, and social trends since World War II. Short, well-documented articles on prominent people, places, events, and institutions.

Area Studies - Latin America

Encyclopedia of Latin American History and Culture. 5 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1996 (Ref F 1406 .E53 1996) Covers a wide variety of topics in over 5,000 articles that together constitute an overview of current knowledge about the region. There are entries by country, by topic (such as slavery, art, Asians in Latin America), and biographical entries all in an alphabetical sequence. Articles are written by experts and are followed by current selective bibliographies.

Musacchio, Humberto. Milenios de Mexico. 3 vols. Mexico : Hoja Casa Editorial, 1999. (Ref F1204 .M955 1999) A lavishly illustrated encyclopedia of Mexican culture and history.

Browsing for Books

Books are shelved in general subject categories using the Library of Congress classification system. You may want to supplement your use of the catalog with browsing shelf areas for your topic. Below is a brief listing of some of the subject locations related to ethnic and area studies. Please note that many books on international affairs are shelved in the Hasselquist International Studies Room, directly behind the reference desk.

• DA-DR European States individually
  
• DS Asia
  
  • 35-392 Middle East and Central Asia
    
  • 401-486 India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal
    
  • 501-689 Southeast Asia
    
  • 701-799 China
    
  • 801-897 Japan
    
• DT Africa
  
  • 43-179 Northern Africa
    
  • 181-363 Central Africa
    
  • 365-469 East Africa
    
  • 470-720 West Africa
    727-971 Southern Africa
    DU Oceania (south seas) and Australia
    
• E North American History (primarily United States)
  
  • 51-99 Native Americans
  • 184.5-185.98 African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, etc.
  • E441-453 Slavery in the United States; antislavery movements
• F 1-975 United States' local history
  
  • 1201-2191 Latin America
    
  • 2201-3799 South America
    
• G Geography
  

A note about subject headings

There are a number of ways of describing a particular ethnic or minority group, which can make searching for books in the catalog tricky. The Library of Congress subject headings attempt to keep books under a topic under the same headings, so they are slow to change and don't always reflect current usage. For example, catalogers don't use "Latino" or "Latina" but "Hispanic;" not "Native Americans" but "Indians of North America." The subject headings listed at the end of a book record in the catalog can tell you which headings are in use, or you can consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings list, available in print near the reference desk or online.

Indexes, Bibliographies, and Databases

Bibliography of Asian Studies. Ann Arbor: Assocaition for Asian Studies, 1956- (Ref D 55 .B49) A very thorough annual bibliography of publications on Asian studies in the European languages. Arranged by country with subdivisions by topic.

HLAS Online: Handbook of Latin American Studies - created by the Hispanic Division, Library of Congress. Web-accessible version of a selective, annotated bibliography of scholarly works on Latin America, published from 1936 to the present. Covers Latin American studies, including Hispanic populations in the United States. The site can be searched by keyword or subject heading in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Note that many of the sources listed here are difficult to obtain, even through interlibrary loan.

The Kaiser Index to Black Resources, 1948-1986. 5 vols. New York: Carlson, 19932 (Ref E185 .K34 1992) This index offers a unique perspective on twentieth century African American history, but using it can require taking special steps. It was created originally to index the contents of publications at the Schomburg Center, a branch of the New York Public Library that has a uniquely rich collection on African American culture. Some of the articles and books indexed in this set can be obtained through normal interlibrary loan channels, but many are so rare that we would have to contact the Schomburg center to arrange for photocopying. If you plan to use this amazing resource, plan to start your research early and work with a librarian to find the materials it indexes.

LexisNexis - has an Ethnic News database located under Guided Search - General News.

Web of Science - an interdisciplinary database that covers current articles published in the social and natural sciences. A unique feature of this database is the ability to search for articles that cite a particular source or for sources related by common citations.

Weinberg, Meyer. Racism in Contemporary America. Westport: Greenwood, 1996. (Ref E 185.61 .W46 1996) A bibliography of books, articles, government documents, and other resources organized into broad topics such as affirmative action, class structure, segregation, stereotypes, etc. There is also a detailed subject index that cross references references by ethnic group. Note that publications more recent than the mid-1990s will not be included.

Web Sites

Hmong Center - a Web site for the Hmong Cultural and Resource Center in St. Paul. Includes cultural information, a virtual museum, publications and events, and information for refugees and resettlement.

NativeWeb: Resources for Indigenous Cultures Around the World - a rich site for information on native peoples, particularly strong for Native North American, but global in scope; includes cultural, historical, educational, and current affairs information.

Pew Hispanic Center: Chronicling Latinos Diverse Experience in a Changing America - based at the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication. Includes the text of several reports, as well as information on demographics, economics, labor, immigration, education, health, and Latinos in the military.

Sonja Haynes Stone Center Library for Black Culture and History Guide to the Web - a subject directory of quality Web sites with annotations.

Tsang, Daniel C. Asian American Studies Resources - maintained by Daniel C. Tsang at the University of California, Irvine. A no-frills list of links to bibliographies, publications, research institutes, movements, gay Asian resources, and more.

World regional reources

Africa South of the Sahara - maintained by Karen Fung for the African Studies Association. Selected, annotated sites arranged by country and topic, with sources for current news from Africa.

Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library - edited by T. Matthew Ciolek at the Australian National University. Covers information on all regions of Asia and the Middle East. This site is comprehensive, frequently updated, and highly organized by an alphabetical index and a hierarchical topical index.

Center for World Indigenous Studies - offers information on various indigenous peoples and the issues of political and cultural identity and nationhood. Of particular note is the Fourth World Docu-Program, which provides full-text documents related to communities around the world as well as relevant international and multilateral documents.

IRIN News: Horn of Africa - news reports on events in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and the Horn of Africa region in general. Covers conflicts (such as the Ethiopia-Somalia conflict), food security, weather events, disease outbreaks, humanitarian aid, and related topics. From the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. (description from LII.org)

LANIC: Latin American Network Information Center - from the Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin. Provides over 12,000 links to quality Web resources for Latin America, arranged by country or by topic, such as economy, education, and government.

PAIR: Portal to Asian Internet Resources - a joint project undertaken by the libraries of the universities of Minnesota, Wisconsin-Madison, and Ohio State, this searchable database catalogs quality Web resources originating in Asia, including Central, South, South-East, and East Asia. Resources are also browseable by country.

Political Database of the Americas - provides information about government and political information for Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, the US, and Canada; from Georgetown University in collaboration with the Organization of American States.

last updated 5/07

This work by Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License