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American Minorities Literature

This guide will help you locate resources on minorities in literature, specifically focusing on African American and American Indian literatures.

Finding Background Information

Examples of some of the related reference books we have in the library are listed to the left. Ebooks are listed to the right.
 

Check out the library's catalog or our ebook collection to find more reference and background resources on women or minorities and literature. You can also try searching for a specific topic, but often books that contain background information are broad. Remember this when choosing search terms.
 

Some subject terms in our ebook collection you can search by:

  • African Americans in literature
  • American Literature -- African American authors -- History and criticism
  • American Literature -- Minority authors -- History and criticism -- Theory, etc.
  • Ethnic groups in literature
  • American Literature -- Indian authors
  • African Americans -- Intellectual life
  • Minority authors -- United States -- Biography -- Dictionaries
  • Indians in literature
  • African American women in literature.
     

Also try searching keywords related to broad concepts, such as:

  • Ethnic groups in literature
  • Ethnic identity
  • American Indian or Native American authors
  • African American writers
  • Diversity in literature
  • Cultural criticism
  • Tribal theory


If you need some more ideas, you can always talk with your professor or a librarian.

Reference Books and eBooks in the Library

What are Reference Books?

Reference books are designed for accessing specific facts or information and can take many different forms, such as:

  • Indexes
  • Dictionaries
  • Encyclopedias
  • Bibliographies
  • Almanacs
  • Directories
  • Handbooks

In other words, reference books can provide you with great background information. 

Reference books at the HJF Learning Center are located in their own section on the second floor. You will know if a book is considered to be reference by its call number. All reference book call numbers begin with an "R."

Reference books may be used within the library only. They cannot be borrowed or taken out of the library. You may also copy pages or information you need from a reference book.

You can also search for reference information here: