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Course Guide: Intra-Caribbean and Latin American Migration (LAST 695-06)

Fall 2007
Prof. Andrea Queeley

This guide supports the research needs of students studying Intra-Caribbean and Latin American Migration at Tulane University. For additional research assistance after today's session, contact:

Sean Knowlton, Reference Librarian & Bibliographer
Sean@Tulane.edu
504-247-1870

Overview of Today's Session

  • Developing a Research Strategy
  • Identifying Keywords & Subject Headings
  • Searching: Tulane University Libraries Catalog & WorldCat
  • Databases & Web Portals

 


Developing A Research Strategy

Consult multiple resources to identify and narrow or expand your research topic:

    • Web Portals
    • Bibliographies / Works Cited
    • Library Catalogs
    • Reference Works
    • Article/Scholarly Databases

Approach your research systematically and scientifically – thoroughly exhaust the possibilities of each resource before moving on.

Create a working list of keywords and relevant Subject Headings - modify and expand throughout your research process

Consider using a bibliographic management tool, like RefWorks, to organize your resources.

Consult with a librarian.

Keywords

Before you begin your search, break your topic down into several discrete concepts or keyword search terms. Databases, including the library catalog, will be able to retrieve more relevant materials this way. For more flexible searching, think of various ways to express these search terms -- synonyms, broader terms, and narrower terms. Most databases index or categorize content in English; however, titles may be in another language. Don't forget, where appropriate to include search terms in French, Spanish, Portuguese, or other languages.

Then, think about what kind of information resources you need and select appropriate indexes and databases in which to search for material. This step is crucial to efficient identification of quality sources for your research.

Subject Headings

Emigration and immigration
Place - - Emigration and immigration

Immigrants -- Place
Forced migration

Migration, internal -- Central America / Brazil / Latin America / etc.
Migrations

Population transfers
Refugees
Return migration
Rural-urban migration

Canary Islanders -- Lousiana
Caribbean Americans
Dominicans (Dominican Republic)
Garifuna (Caribbean People)
Haitian American(s)
Haitians -- Dominican Republic

Caribbean Area -- Emigration and Immigration
Central America
Haiti
Dominican Republic
Latin America
Mexico City (Mexico)
West Indies

Subject Headings for migration-related concepts

Alien labor, Jamaican -- Cuba
Emigrant remittances

City planning
New towns
Urbanization
Suburbs
Squatter settlements

Garifuna (Caribbean people) --Guatemala
Indians of Mexico -- urban residence

Race relations
Transnationalism

Place- - Population

Place - - Economic conditions
Place - - Rural conditions
Place - - Social conditions
Place - - Poor
Example: Mexico City (Mexico) -- Population

Social change
Social mobility
Social movements
Social networks

Working class -- Cuba

Here's a nice example of an effective subject heading search can help you identify useful materials:

 


Searching: Major Catalogs

Tulane University Libraries Catalog

WorldCat


Finding Articles Using Databases & Web Portals
[Off Campus? Log in to access Tulane Subscription Databases]

E-Journals @ Tulane

Interlibrary Loan : Tulane University ILLiad

Ethnographic Approach

eHRAF Collection of Ethnography

Ethnographic and other documents describing cultural and social life (books, journal articles, and dissertations) that are compiled into culture profiles. Search by subject or culture. [Tulane Subscription]

 

Historical Approach

America: History & Life

Historical coverage of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Citations from 1954 - present. [Tulane Subscription]

Historical Abstracts

Provides a complete bibliographic reference to the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. [Tulane Subscription]

Sabin Americana, 1500-1926

Based on Joseph Sabin's landmark bibliography, this collection contains works about the Americas (North, Central and South America, the Arctic and Antarctica and the West Indies) published throughout the world from 1500 to the early 1900's. Included are books, pamphlets, serials and other documents that provide original accounts of exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and much more. With over 6 million pages from 29,000 works, this collection is a cornerstone in the study of the western hemisphere. [Tulane Subscription]

 

Humanities Approach

Arts and Humanities Citation Index via Web of Science (1975 - present)

This multidisciplinary index covers the journal literature of the arts and humanities. It fully covers 1,144 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, and it indexes individually selected, relevant items from over 6,800 major science and social science journals. [Tulane Subscription]

 

Social Sciences Approach

PAIS International and Archive

Global coverage of public affairs and world issues, with an emphasis on issues in the public debate. References to more than 530,000 journal articles, books, government documents, statistical directories, gray literature, research reports, policy papers, Internet documents, conference reports and other sources from more than 120 countries. Topics covered include: affirmative action, AIDS, climate change, ethnicity, environmental degradation, political persecution, women's rights, war and conflict, etc. [Tulane Subscription]

Social Sciences Abstracts and Full Text [Tulane Subscription]

Social Sciences Citation Index

Covers all disciplines in the social sciences. Contains the references cited by the authors of the articles covered by the index. Use these references to do cited reference searching. [Tulane Subscription]

Sociological Abstracts

Contains bibliographic citations with abstracts for journal articles and dissertations in all branches of the field of Sociology. [Tulane Subscription]

 

Area Studies Approach

HAPI Online (Hispanic American Periodical Index)

HAPI offers authoritative information about Latin America, the US-Mexico border region, and Hispanics in the US. From analyses of current political, economic, and social issues to coverage of Latin American arts and letters, HAPI Online contains complete bibliographic citations to articles, book reviews, documents, original literary works, and other materials appearing in social science and humanities journals published throughout the world. Coverage: 1970 - present. [Tulane Subscription]

Handbook of Latin American Studies

A bibliography on Latin America consisting of works selected and annotated by scholars. Alternates annually between the social sciences and the humanities. Edited by the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress.

HLAS Online

This interface covers 1936 - present and includes Table of Contents (Introductory Essays: Vols. 50-59).

HLAS Web

This new interface only covers 1990 - present. The new and improved interface allows you to save your search history, select records for Save, Print, and Email and allows you to limit searches by date, language, type (Book/Article), place of publication.

LANIC Latin American Network Information Center (University of Texas-Austin)

Immigration and Migration

Latin American Periodicals Tables of Contents (LAPTOC)

Provides searchable interface for tables of contents of more than 800 journals, primarily in the humanities and social sciences, published in Latin America.

 

Guide: Dissertations

Guide: Latino & Latina Studies: Web Portals

 
   
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