Senegal Parrot: National Library of Australia

Barnard College Library Research Guide BC3004: Pan African Studies Professor Linda Beck Fall 2004

Contents
Reference Books | CLIO & Other Library Catalogs | Databases & Indexes 
Full-Text Journals | News Resources | Electronic Subject Guides
  Consultation Request

REFERENCE BOOKS

Encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference books can provide useful background and factual information. They can also provide bibliographies that lead you to relevant books and articles.  The reference books in this list are available in the Barnard Library reference area on the second floor.  There are many other reference books which may be helpful to you.  Please ask the reference librarian for help in identifying additional reference books.

CLIO

CLIO (Columbia Libraries Information Online) is the on-line catalog for the Barnard & Columbia Libraries. CLIO can be searched by author, title, subject and keyword.  Help for searching CLIO is available on the Web CLIO opening screen.  Click on: "Connect via WWW". 

• You can enter CLIO from the Barnard Library home page or from the Columbia University LibraryWeb
• Help with searching (called "search tips") is available on the bottom of the opening search screen

 Some Sample Searches:

 title:         black athena
 title:         journal of african history
 author:     achebe chinua
 subject:    africa social life and customs
 subject:    senegal history
 keyword:   colonialism and kenya
 keyword:   women and social and "south africa?"

OTHER LIBRARY CATALOGS

Please note that Teachers’ College, and the Law Library’s holdings are not listed in CLIO and that they have their own online library catalogs.  CATNYP is the online catalog of the NYPL research library.The holdings of the Health Sciences Library are listed in CLIO. Click on "Other Library Catalogs" to search these catalogs.

Interlibrary Loan

Interlibrary Loan will borrow books or obtain photocopies of items that are not available at the Barnard or Columbia Libraries with no charge to the patron. Click on "Interlibrary Loan" on the BC Library home page or "Request It" on CULWeb. Then click on "Interlibrary Loan" and you may then request it electronically. You may also make a request in person at the Interlibrary Loan office in 307 Butler. Information about borrowing items through Borrow Direct are given on this page.

On the Databases (reference works & indexes) list, which you can access from the Barnard Library home page, there are links to many indexes which give citations, abstracts and some full-text for articles in various disciplines. Many databases have e-links which will search to see if the full-text of a particular item is available online through CUL. If you are unable to locate an item full-text search CLIO directly for the journal title. 

The following indexes and databases will probably be the most relevant to your research

African Studies
Index to publications and unpublished manuscripts about and from Africa in history, literature, music,arts, business and social sciences, 1981 to present.

Historical Abstracts
Citations to articles in world history excluding the U.S. & Canada. Covers from 1450  to present.
Articles, books and dissertations. e-Link enabled, published from 1982 to present.

International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
Citations for articles from over 100 countries in more than 90 languages, in the disciplines of anthropology, economics, political science and sociology, from 1951 to present.

International Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts for articles in the field of political science, including public administration, political theory and international relations, published in journals and yearbooks worldwide, 1989 to present.

PAIS International (Public Affairs Information Service database)
Citations and abstracts for articles, books, conference proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories about public affairs, 1972 to present.

Social Sciences Full Text
Abstracts for journals in anthropology, business, community health, economics, foreign affairs, geography, international relations, law and criminology, sociology and social history, 1983 to present.

South African Studies
Index to publications and unpublished manuscripts about and from South Africa in the social sciences, law, humanities and the arts, 1987 to present.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Abstracts of of books and articles from professional journals and major news magazines, devoted to North American and International Politics, 1976 to present.

There are many other databases that may be relevant to your research. Anthropological Literature, Anthropological Index, Art Index, ATLA Religion Database, Black Drama, Family & Society Studies Worldwide, Humanities Full Text, Contemporary Women's Issues, MLA (literature), Sociological Abstracts, and Women's Studies International are suggested. Please do not hesitate to ask for help at the reference desk.

FULL-TEXT JOURNALS & ARTICLES
Many scholarly journals are available full-text on the Columbia University Library Web. In some cases, the library has a subscription to the print version and then access to the on-line version is free to members of the university community. In other cases, the library pays for the on-line subscription separately. Sometimes the journal is included in a searchable collection of journals supplies as a package by the publisher or another vender.

JSTOR
An archive of full-text articles from more than 350 scholarly journals in anthropology, African studies, education, history, philosophy, political science, population studies, sociology and others from each journal's first issue up to 2-6 years ago. Includes African Affairs, Journal of African History, Journal of Modern African History and many more titles.

Project Muse
Full-text articles from more than 170 scholarly journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press in the humanities and social sciences. Included are Africa Today, Human Rights Quarterly and man more titles. Includes most recent years only.

ProQuest Direct
Full-text articles and abstracts from newspapers and periodicals in many disciplines, international affairs, law, psychology, public affairs, sociology, women's studies, from 1988 to the present. For scholarly journals, select "Interdisciplinary-Research Library" from the drop-down menu. The advanced search is recommended.

NEWS RESOURCES

Economist Intelligence Unit
Includes country reports for background information, regional newsletters and more.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
Full-Text coverage of general news, medical, legal, business, governmental and reference topics.
Coverage varies by source, generally begins in mid-1980s.

World News Connection (WNC)  A foreign news service of the U.S. government that offers an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information, covering socioeconomic, political, scientific, technical, and environmental issues and events.

ELECTRONIC SUBJECT GUIDES  from Barnard & Columbia University Libraries

African Studies Resources

Political Science: Information Resources

Subject Guides from CU Libraries complete list of the numerous electronic subject guides in various disciplines.

CONSULTATIONS with Reference Librarians
Click here to complete a form you can e-mail to the library requesting a consultation on your research, or come to the Reference Desk on the second floor.  To contact a reference librarian, e-mail refdesk@barnard.edu or call 212-854-3953.  We'll be happy to help you find additional information.

Last Modified 9/14/04
Karen Dobrusky
Reference Librarian
Barnard College Library
kdobrusky@barnard.edu
X4-8595