Race and Ethnicity: Finding Books

The basic Library Catalog search is a keyword search--you simply type your search terms into the box, and the catalog retrieves all the items that have your search terms in their catalog records.

Searching by subject is another way to find materials that focus on your topic. Each item in the Library Catalog has one or more subject terms (headings) assigned to it, When you search by subject, you retrieve only the items that have the subject for which you searched. To make a subject heading more specific, subheadings are added after it. A subheading is separated from the main heading by a double dash (--). Once you have your subject terms, to search by subject in the Library Catalog, in the dropdown list under "Search for," select "Subject."  Here are some example subject headings for topics related to race, ethnicity, and culture:

Civil Rights

Cultural assimilation

Demography

Equality

Ethnic Identity

Ethnic Relations

Ethnicity

Ethnology

Immigrants

Indigenous peoples

Minorities

Multiculturalism

Pluralism (Social Sciences)

Race

Race discrimination

Race Relations

Racism

Social Movements

Stereotype (Psychology)

Subject Headings for Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Groups

There are subject headings for many different groups. Here are a few examples:

African American

Asian American

Hispanic American

Indians of North America

To find subject headings for a group you are studying, first use keyword searching to find some relevant books. Then look at their records and see what subject terms they have. You can use the subject links in the catalog records to retrieve all the items with the same subject. However, this linking scheme has some quirks, so if it seems like it is returning far too many (or too few) items, try using the Library Catalog (aka Advanced Search) screen and a Subject or Subject Phrase search with your terms.

If you want to browse the library stacks, you can use these call numbers to find books on race and ethnicity.

GN Anthropology

GN49-298 Physical anthropology. Somatology

GN301-674 Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology 

HT Communities, classes, and races

HT51-65 Human settlements. Communities

HT101-395 Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology

HT401-485 Rural groups. Rural sociology

HT601-1445 Classes

HT1501-1595 Races

These books can be found on the second floor of the library stacks. Remember that given the interdisciplinary nature of liberal arts studies, you may find useful books with other call numbers too.