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HIST 212: The History of the African American Family (Spring 2025)

What Went Wrong?

Below are links to search results. In each case I did at least one thing wrong, which is why they yield zany results. 

 

  1. I tried to find Books in the main library catalog with the search African American families. Why are there so many results?
    1. How can I limit the results to Historical works?
  2. In America: History & Life, I conducted a subject search for "African American families" What are some of the ways I can narrow my search results?
  3. I found this article, published by Oxford University Press in African Studies, about children and childhood in Africa. What are the pros/cons of using it as one of my sources for this assignment?
    1. What about this chapter about West African Family in Hornsby, Alton. A Companion to African American History. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2005.
  4. This article is listed as Peer Reviewed, is in a major historical journal, and looks interesting. I'm going to use it as one of my peer reviewed articles.
  5. I found this article in GoogleScholar, and it's about how African American families provide support for college students. Is it a good source?
  6. This book is cited several times in secondary sources and I want to read it. W&M doesn't own it -- how do I gain access?
  7. The America: History & Life results are confusing. Based on the number of results, which is the appropriate subject heading: "black families" or "African American families"
  8. Why are there so many results for my subject search for "African American families" AND "civil rights"