HIST 2441: Cities and Citizenship in Latin American History

Here are a few preliminary things to begin: 

• What is the assignment? What are you being asked to do? What kind of information do you need to find? 
  • WHERE does that information exist?
• Pick a topic
  • Brainstorm everything you already know (or think you know) about that topic.
• Ask yourself "What do I want to know?" or "What am I curious about?"
• Think about where background information might be...
  • biographies
  • encyclopedia entries
  • books or ebooks
  • magazine articles
  • news articles
  • podcasts
  • artwork
  • scholarly materials
  • criticisms

NEXT, BRAINSTORM (or concept mapping)

• Bubbl.us: use the free version for up to three maps
• Create a t-chart in your notebook
• Draw it out
• Use Google Jamboard and digital sticky notes

Now you have a topic, a brainstorm of keywords, and a general idea of what you are looking for. Let's practice searching: 

• My topic: Crime in Mexico City

Choose one of these databases to practice this search.

• America: History and Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window

  Indexes the scholarly literature of the history and culture of Canada and the United States from prehistoric times to the present.

• Historical Abstracts with Full Text This link opens in a new window

  World history except the United States and Canada.  Subjects included are religion, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, political science, the arts, law, education and genealogy.  

• Humanities Source This link opens in a new window

  Provides access to journals with worldwide content pertaining to literary, scholarly, and creative thought.  

• JSTOR

  Limit by Latin American Studies and History to avoid being overwhelmed by irrelevant results. You may also want to filter out book reviews since you can't use them for your bibliography.

• Project Muse

  Muse is not as strong in communication research as JSTOR or Communication Source, but it does contain journals on film and performing arts, social sciences, and women's and gender studies.