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Behind the Bindings: Researching Black History in the Law Journal Library

3 MIN READ

We may be coming to the end of Black History Month, but researchers know that learning about Black history doesn’t have a timeline. Did you know that our Law Journal Library has a number of tools that can help you find multidisciplinary, scholarly articles that shed light on the trajectory of Black history in America and beyond? In this edition of Behind the Bindings, we’ll show you the different ways that you can uncover scholarly resources that highlight the unique struggles, oppressions, achievements, and strengths that underpin Black history.

PathFinder Subjects

Within our PathFinder tool, under Social Sciences, users will find a Race, Ethnicity, and Culture subtopic, which reveals a further level of subtopics, including:

Some of these topics can be even further distilled down – for example, within Race and Ethnicity Issues, users can choose between Desegregation, Racial Discrimination, Segregation, and Slavery.

screenshot of search results for PathFinder subject "Race and Ethnicity Issues"

Within Racial Segregation, for example, users will find articles such as:

Venn Diagram Tool

If you’re looking to research intersectionality of race with other socioeconomic factors, our Venn Diagram tool, located within the Advanced Search options, makes it easy. For example, try a search such as Blackness AND poverty AND “gender inequality.”

screenshot of Venn Diagram search for Blackness AND poverty AND "gender inequality"

The phrases overlap in articles such as:

Additionally, this tool allows users hover over the different segments of the diagram and see all possible search term combinations from the original query. For example, you can view results for:

  • Blackness AND poverty
  • Poverty AND “gender inequality”
  • Blackness AND “gender inequality”
  • And the phrases Blackness, poverty, and “gender inequality” individually

Keyword Search Builder

Another tool in the Law Journal Library that can help you research Black history is our Keyword Search Builder tool, which allows you to select keywords and designate the weight with which you’d like each word to be considered in the search results. Consider a search for “Black culture” AND reparations AND redlining, with the weight set highest for the phrase “Black culture”:

screenshot of Keyword Search Builder tool with search for "Black culture," reparations AND redlining

This search will yield results for relevant articles such as:

Get the Most Out of the Law Journal Library

For more tips and tricks about how you can utilize the Law Journal Library to learn about Black history, or any other topic, dive into our dedicated LibGuide, which highlights the unique tools and features within our flagship collection, which now contains more than 3,300 multidisciplinary journals dating back to inception!

image of Law Journal Library Libguide
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