Undergraduate Learning Librarian
University Library
500 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95053
kbaughmanmcdowell@scu.edu
Slavery and Unfreedom
Welcome to SCU Library
My name is Kelci and I am your librarian. I am here to support your research.
I do not judge or grade you.
I'm on a knowledge accrual mission along with you.
I expect you to be an active participant in this mission of developing your research skills.
Let's make the most of our time together!
* Reproduction of a handbill advertising a slave auction in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1769. (Wikipedia Commons)
Temperature Check
Grab a post-it. How are you feeling about this paper?
Featured Resources to Start Your Research
Research Packs - Primary Sources in Collection
These databases offer a variety of primary sources, usually presented in an user-friendly way, many times with accompanying secondary sources, and user tools like browsing and narrative introductions. With a little exploration, you could find something interesting!
- Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new windowDesigned for teaching and research, this resource brings together documents and collections from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world, covering an extensive time period from 1490. Topics covered include the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.
Themes
- Slavery and Anti-Slavery This link opens in a new windowSlavery and Anti-Slavery contains primary source documents from archives all over the world covering the history of the slave trade from 1492-1888.
- Black Freedom Struggle in the United States This link opens in a new windowA selection of 2000 primary source documents including historical newspaper articles, pamphlets, diaries, correspondence and more that highlight the triumphs and resiliency of African Americans in the pursuit of equality through six periods of history.
- VOICES: Narratives by Survivors of Modern SlaveryThis is the world's largest archive of modern slavery survivor narratives. Across more than a million words spoken or written by survivors of modern slavery, The database is searchable by country, name, theme, and narrative date. Narratives can be viewed in list or map form. A short introduction provides context to each narrative. Narrative provenance appears after the main narrative text.
- Bond LaborA newsletter covering modern bond labor from a selection of global locations.
Activity: State Topic and Explore
Get Your Research Started!
1. State your topic
Even if you don't share your topic with class today, you need to create a new document and clearly state it for yourself
2. Explore primary resources
--> Consider posting your topic and a really cool primary source on the Padlet for class discussion
Save links to articles and support in your document
Next: Search for Books and Articles (Secondary Sources)
3. Expand out to secondary sources using the history databases listed on this research guide
Choose whether to look for books or articles. Try searching in OSCAR or one of the article databases, and keep track of your research in your document.
Books
Books can contain secondary and primary source material. Use OneSearch or OSCAR to locate books SCU owns.
Formula: 2-3 keyword terms, connected with and. No phrases or questions.
OSCAR for Books:
- Advanced Searching OSCARUse the formula created above to put one keyword in the first box and a second keyword in the second box. You may limit to physical location or ebook format.
- Browse OSCAR Slavery Subject HeadingsA listing of Library of Congress subject headings beginning with the word "slavery." Click the "XX additional entries" hyperlink to see all the books categorized under any specific subject heading. Click the request button on books that look good, or access ebooks online.
History Databases:
- America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new windowThis database covers the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. With selective indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to the present, this database also provides full-text coverage of more than 196 journals and more than 92 books.
- Historical Abstracts with full-text This link opens in a new windowThis database covers the history of the world (except the United States and Canada) from 1450 forward. It provides selective indexing of historical articles from more than 1,800 journals in over 40 languages back to 1955, as well as access to the full text of more than 316 journals and more than 138 books.
- Peer-Reviewed Article SearchFollow this link, add one more keyword to the search box, and click search. You will be searching within all peer-reviewed journal articles under the subject heading "Slavery" in both America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts.
Social Science Databases
If your topic is on modern slavery, you will want to use a social science database.
- Sociological Abstracts This link opens in a new windowThis database is a primary resource for accessing the latest research in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. The database draws information from an international selection of over 2,600 journals and other serials publications, plus conference papers, books, and dissertations. Records added after 1974 contain in-depth and nonevaluative abstracts of journal articles. 1963-present. Updated monthly.
- ProQuest Social Science Premium Collection This link opens in a new windowContains more than 1,800 full-text articles and over 14,000 abstracts from scholarly journals and dissertations in the social sciences such as criminal justice, education, language behavior, linguistics, political science, sociology, etc.
Example search strategy
