UCR      Libraries

The Civil Rights Movement, 1950-1970

---

Background Sources in Print


There are many specialized encyclopedias, indexes, and other reference sources with information about the Civil Rights Movement in America. These sources cannot be checked out.  They are located in the Reference area on the 1st Floor of Rivera Library.  Encyclopedia articles give an overview of a topic.  Browsing through them can give you ideas for your research focus.    Most provide a bibliography of sources that can give you a jump start on your research. Here is a sampling: 

 

---

To find BOOKS at UCR, use the SCOTTY catalog:  

Search by keyword for materials on a particular topic. 
To retrieve variations of a word, use *   
Example:  freedom ride* will retrieve freedom rides, freedom riders 
Narrow your search by using subject headings  and / or by limiting by year, language, books only.   
Remember, a "subject" search must use official "subject headings".  Here are some examples:

• 
  Civil Rights Movements--United States
• 
  Civil Rights Movements--United States--Sources
• 
  Civil Rights Workers--United States
• 
  Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
• 
  Black Panther Party
• 
  Congress of Racial Equality
• 
  United States--Race Relations
• 
  King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Use the California Digital Library's MELVYL Catalog to locate books at other UC campus libraries.

---

To find SCHOLARLY JOURNAL and MAGAZINE articles, use a periodical index / database:

Start with:                                                                                                        
Academic Search Complete: 1984 - present contains references to both scholarly journals and popular magazines. It's a good, general-purpose database when getting started looking for articles on a topic.

Then try:  America, History and Life  and  Arts & Humanities Citation Index - indexes scholarly journals from 1975.     

Search for information in one or more of the specialized databases, depending upon your topic:  

Sociological focus: Sociological Abstracts
Political Science focus, check our Databases by Subject Page for:  PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)  
Relating to women, check our Databases by Subject Page:  Ethnic & Women/Gender Studies                                                                

---

Primary Source Materials:


                                                                          

---

To find relevant websites:            

Check out INFOMINE - Social Sciences & Humanities                   
Put in the relevant keyword terms and see what happens!
  . . .  or  . . .         
Begin your Web surfing from a good "mega-site":

• 
  History Net has a section on the civil rights movement: http://afroamhistory.about.com/cs/civilrights/
  

• 
  Yale University New Haven Teachers Institute:  "American Women who shaped the Civil Rights Movement Explored through the Literature of Eloise Greenfield:  http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/3/97.03.10x.html
  
  
• 
  Civil Rights Documentation Project includes bibliographies, oral history transcripts and a civil rights timeline: http//www-dept.usm.edu/~mcrohb/

. . .  or  . . .

do a SPECIFIC search in an Internet search engine (Google, HotBot, Northern Light, etc.)

---