Subject Guides: HTY 141 & HTY 142: African American History: Find Books

LibrarySearch (Library Catalog)

Start your research EARLY

African American or Black with a narrower term (Folklore, Literature, etc.)
Race, Minorities, Multicuturalism
Apartheid, Segregation, Integration
Relocation, Assimilation
Consider: Ethnic vs. Ethnicity
Notable Individuals: Douglass, Fredrick
People of Color
Free Blacks

Finding Books

In order to find books held in the University of Maine System libraries you should begin with LibrarySearch, the online catalog.

If the material you need is not available at the USM Libraries, you should next search MaineCat and Request the material. If the book is not available through LibrarySearch or MaineCat, then you should create a free Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) account. See links below.

LibrarySearch (Library Catalog)
Catalog for the University of Maine system, including USM. You can choose to limit your search to USM, or search all libraries. You can also search for journal articles here too.
MaineCat
If LibrarySearch doesn't have what you need, try MaineCat, the Catalog for Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin plus many public libraries in Maine. USM students may Request delivery to USM campus libraries.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
You can widen your search to libraries worldwide using WorldCat. If you find a book you need, request it using the "Order through Illiad" link. Sign in or create a free ILLiad account.

Interlibrary Loan (ILLiad) Account
Create or sign into your free ILLiad account to electronically request journal articles that USM does not have, or to request print books, music scores, & videos not available through LibrarySearch and MaineCat.

eBook Databases

Sign-in to MyUSM portal for access to thousands of E-books via the LibrarySearch catalog or via one of our E-book databases. USM has access to E-books marked 'USM Access' or 'UM System-wide Access.'

LibrarySearch (Library Catalog)

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Reference Books

1001 Things Everyone Should Know about African-American History (book) by Jeffrey C. Stewart
Call Number: Request from LibrarySearch
ISBN: 0385473095
Publication Date: 1996
Encyclopedia of African American Society (book) by Gerald D. Jaynes (Ed)
Call Number: POR Reference E185 .E546 2005
ISBN: 0761927646
Publication Date: 2005
Maine's Visible Black History by Gerald E. Talbot
Call Number: USM Stacks E185.93.M15 P75 2006
ISBN: 0884482758
Publication Date: 2006-05-01
The Norton Anthology of African American Literature by Hortense Spillers (Editor); Nellie Y. McKay (General Editor); Deborah E. McDowell (Editor); Robert G. O'Meally (Editor); Cheryl A. Wall (Editor); Henry Louis Gates (General Editor); William L. Andrews (Editor); Houston A. Baker (Editor); Frances Smith (Editor); Nellie Mckay (General Editor); Arnold Rampersad (Editor)
Call Number: USM Stacks PS508.N3 N67 2004
ISBN: 0393977781
Publication Date: 2003-12-19
Notable Black American Scientists by Kristine Krapp (Editor)
Call Number: USM Stacks Q141 .N726 1999
ISBN: 0787627895
Publication Date: 1998-10-01
Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960 by Bernard L. Peterson Jr.
Call Number: GOR Reference PN2286 P46 2001
ISBN: 0313295344
Publication Date: 2000-10-30
Reference Library of Black America
Call Number: USM Stacks E185 .R455 2005

Selected reference books available at Portland, Gorham, or Lewiston-Auburn.

Oxford African American Studies Center
Oxford African American Studies Center is an Internet resource which provides students with an extensive resource for African American Studies that includes biographies timelines, maps, charts, and primary sources. Entries are searchable or users may browse through topics while narrowing them according to category and further limit the results alphabetically.

Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
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Oxford Reference Premium contains over 125 language and subject dictionaries and reference works, all published by Oxford University Press. Areas of coverage include science and medicine, the humanities and social sciences, and business and law. Content includes world maps, illustrations, timelines, weblines, and key titles from the Oxford Companions series. English dictionaries and thesauri, guides to grammar and usage, and dictionaries of etymology, foreign languages, quotations, and names are provided.