How to find books in American Ethnic Studies
Getting Started
If you are new to doing library research, I highly recommend completing the AMETH Research Tutorials first, and be familiar with the Get It button. Here is a basic video tutorial on how to use the library catalog.
Before you do any in-depth research, it is always benficial to consult reference books in your topic first. The DowMRC website has a wonderful reference book database, where you can find many relevant printed and electronic resources that our library owns. You can click on any of the tags on the right of the page, and see a list of items that have elements of that topic.
To expand you search, you can use our library's Catalog to search our entire collection.
To expand further, you can use WorldCat to search the collections of more than 10,000 libraries in the world. If you find items that we don't own, Interlibrary Loan Service (ILS) will try to get it for you (most at no cost). Books will come in about 5-10 days. Articles will be scanned and emailed to you in about 2-5 days (sometimes even that day).
Recommended Books (Click HERE for more):
1. Culture and Customs series - The series captures the essence of nations today in individual ready-reference volumes. It offers a comprehensive overview of the cultural life of countries most studied and in the news. (Search "Culture and Customs" by Title in the Library Catalog.)
2. The World Cookbook for Students (5 Volumes) - The volumes are organized alphabetically by country or group name. Each entry includes a brief introduction to the land and people and their cuisine and then an overview of the foodstuffs, typical dishes, and styles of eating in simple bulleted lists. Approximately 5 recipes are provided per country/ethnic group of typical dishes and holiday fare, for a total of 1,198. A ebook version is also available via Netlibrary.
3. Countries and Their Cultures - This world is full of many different countries and even more different cultures. Countries and their Cultures is a four-volume set that focuses on countries, and the cultures within them, around the world. This reference is ordered alphabetically and covers a total of 225 countries. In addition to the cultural summaries, there are country maps, photographs, and an index. Each summary provides a mix of demographic, historic, social, economic, political, and religious information on the country.
4. Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife (4 Volumes) - Organized in four volumes, the encyclopedia provides convenient access to information about folklore generally and to the traditions of particular regions:
Volume 1: Topics and Themes, Africa, Australia and Oceania
Volume 2: Southeast Asia and India, Central and East Asia, Middle East
Volume 3: Europe
Volume 4: North and South America
5. Encyclopedia of African-American culture and history: the Black experience in the Americas - African American history is rich with cultural diversity and notablty enigmatic figures. The Encyclopedia of African American Culture and History contains 2,200 biographical entries. It ranges from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the end of the twentieth century`, from slave and poet Jupiter Hammon to jazz greats like Louis Armstrong. The reference includes notable people such as Nobel-prize winning author Toni Morrison along with other entries dealing with events, historical eras, legal cases, and culture. The encyclopedia also includes entries for all fifty states as well as separate articles for cities with special significance for black Americans, past or present.
6. Gale Encyclopedia of Native American tribes - There are many different Native American tribes, 400 of which are covered in The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. This reference contains information on both the historical and contemporary issues for each tribe. All entries begin with an introduction about the tribal roots, historic and current location, population data, and language family, followed by segments covering the history, religious beliefs, language, buildings, means of subsistence, clothing, healing practices, customs, oral literature, and current tribal issues. The reference also includes illustrations and a bibliography.
7. African American slave narratives : an anthology / edited by Sterling Lecater Bland, Jr.
8. Encyclopedia of food and culture / Solomon H. Katz, editor in chief ; William Woys Weaver, associate editor.
9. Encyclopedia of American immigration / James Ciment, editor.
10. Harvard encyclopedia of American ethnic groups / Stephan Thernstrom, editor ; Ann Orlov, managing editor, Oscar Handlin, consulting editor.
11. Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America / contributing editor, Robert von Dassanowsky ; author of introduction, Rudolph J. Vecoli ; edited by Jeffrey Lehman.
These E-Books are available on Netlibrary: (Copy and paste the titles and search on Netlibrary)
1. Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic Studies
2. A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies Blackwell Companions in Cultural Studies
3. The Asian Pacific American Heritage: A Companion to Literature and Arts Garland Reference Library of the Humanities
4. American Folklore: An Encyclopedia
5. Missing Stories: An Oral History of Ethnic and Minority Groups in Utah
6. Encyclopedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts
7. Prevailing Over Time: Ethnic Adjustment On the Kansas Prairies, 1875-1925
8. Of Orphans and Warriors: Inventing Chinese American Culture and Identity
9. Westward the Immigrants: Italian Adventurers and Colonists in an Expanding America
10. Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture
11. Encyclopedia of Contemporary German Culture
12. Encyclopedia of North American Indians
13. The Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage
14. California Soul: Music of African Americans in the West
15. The Multicultural Cookbook for Students
16. The World Cookbook for Students
Leo Lo
K-State Libraries
Social Sciences/Humanities Department
Hale Library, 203
(785) 532-2158
leolo@ksu.edu
http://www.lib.k-state.edu