Major Journals
Journal of African-American Studies
Callaloo
Ethnic Newswatch
African-American Review
Terms to Know
These are some basic terms that will help to distinguish between the various types of resources made available by the Library.
Primary Source and Secondary Source: a primary source is a subject of direct study, and a secondary source is scholarly work on a primary source.
Examples: the novel Jane Eyre is a primary source, but journal articles and books discussing Jane Eyre are secondary sources.
Full-Text: these resources contain the complete texts of documents (such as journal articles).
Examples:
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Provides page images of back issues of the core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences from the earliest issues to within a few years of current publication. Users may browse by journal title or discipline, or may search the full-text or citations/abstracts. New issues of existing titles and new titles are added approximately on a weekly basis. The University of Illinois has access to the following JSTOR collections: Arts & Sciences I-XV, 19th Century British Pamphlets, Business IV, Global Plants, Hebrew Journals, Ireland, Life Sciences Collection, Lives of Literature, Security Studies, Struggles for Freedom - South Africa, Sustainability, and World Heritage Sites - Africa. - Project Muse This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from more than 200 scholarly journals in history and the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences. Disciplines covered include literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others. A brief bibliographic description of each title is given. Searches can be conducted across the full text of all journals in the database.
- Performing Arts Periodicals Database This link opens in a new windowThis database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 395 international periodicals, plus full text for more than 160 of the indexed journals. The database currently includes almost a million records, the majority from the most recent ten years of each journal. Performing Arts Periodicals Database covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.
Coverage: 1864 - current
Terms to Know Cont.
Bibliography: these resource contain citations for documents (as opposed to documents in full text). You will often be able to click the 
button in resources like this at UIUC, but you may have to find a print copy in the Library's Primo catalog or use Interlibrary Loan.
Examples:
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new windowIndexes critical materials on literature, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Proved access to citations from worldwide publications, including periodicals, books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations and bibliographies. Use MLA International Bibliography in the NEW EBSCO user interface.
- Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature This link opens in a new windowThe annual bibliography of English language and literature (ABELL) lists monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews and collections of essays published anywhere in the world; unpublished doctoral dissertations are covered for the period 1920-1999. The bibliography consists of 80 volumes, beginning in 1920 and issued annually. A number of items published between 1892 and 1919 have been indexed retrospectively.
Reference Source: reference sources are more introductory in nature than secondary scholarship, but may cite useful secondary sources.
Examples:
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowProvides access to a collection of aggregated and integrated reference books from high-quality publishers.
- Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism This link opens in a new windowA full-text searchable database of articles on individual critics and theorists, critical and theoretical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. It also treats related persons and fields that have been shaped by or have themselves shaped literary theory and criticism. Each entry includes a selective primary and secondary bibliography
Secondary Sources for Black Studies
- ProQuest Black Studies Center This link opens in a new windowThe ProQuest Black Studies Center includes the Black Studies Periodicals Database, which includes citations for articles in Black periodicals going back to 1902, as well as an online index to Black literature spanning from 1827-1940, the Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience (a database of studies, articles, images and essays covering important topics), and the full text of the Chicago Defender newspaper from 1910-1975.
- Dictionary of African-American WritersThis biographical dictionary's cross-referenced entries include not only information on writers, but also on broad movements in African-American literary history.
- Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and HistoryThis encyclopedia contains biographical entries on famous writers, in addition to many entries discussing African-American cultural history.
General Reference Resources
- Dictionary of Literary Biography Complete Online This link opens in a new windowProvides biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres.
- American National Biography This link opens in a new windowBiographical dictionary of notable American men and women from all eras of American history who are no longer alive. Includes illustrations and hypertext links to other web resources.
- Oxford Encyclopedia of American LiteratureContains short biographical entries and suggestions for further reading.
- Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowComprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture, coupled with precise search and browse capabilities. Features more than 10,000 articles by top scholars in the field, over 1,750 images, more than 300 primary sources with specially written commentaries, nearly 150 maps, 150 charts and tables, and over 6,000 biographies. The core content includes: Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience, second ed.; Encyclopedia of African American history, 1619-1895; Encyclopedia of African American history, 1896 to the present; Black women in America, second ed.; African American national biography; Dictionary of African biography; The Oxford encyclopedia of African thought.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new windowFull-text articles from more than 200 scholarly journals in history and the humanities, the social sciences, and the sciences. Disciplines covered include literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, economics, and many others. A brief bibliographic description of each title is given. Searches can be conducted across the full text of all journals in the database.