LibGuides: UNV 100: Sites and Sounds of Africa: Overview

Welcome and Orientation Assignment

Welcome to the library's course guide for UNV 100: Sites and Sounds of Africa!

During your library orientation, you'll get a tour of the library building and website. You will also learn about the specific journals and databases on this guide, which will help you complete your research paper.

Complete the following assignment for participation points during class.

UNV 100 Sites and Sounds of Africa | Orientation Assignment

If you need a refresher on the building or website tour, watching the following videos might help. Also, remember the FAQ's on the library's homepage!

African History Journals and Databases

Academic journals publish the results or findings of researchers in a specific academic field. The articles in them are often reviewed by a researcher's peers before they are published as a check for authority and validity.

The following journals are some of the most reputable African history journals.

Journal of African History
Use the "Search Inside" feature to search across both databases that have access to this journal.
African Affairs
This peer-reviewed "inter-disciplinary journal, with a focus on the politics and international relations of sub-Saharan Africa."
African Studies Review
"A multi-disciplinary, [peer-reviewed,] scholarly journal, publishes original research and analyses of Africa."

The following databases contain many journals and other publications related to African history and Africana studies. They are good places to search beyond the three journals listed above.

Africa-Wide Information This link opens in a new window
16th century - present. Includes content from South African Studies, African Studies, and African HealthLine, covering all areas of scholarship of Africa.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to the archives of core scholarly journals in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and science, plus full text ebooks and open access content.
Access extended! Some journals in JSTOR are available for U-M Flint until June 30, 2023, after which they are expected to become unavailable. Many other journals will remain accessible.

Mostly 3-5 years & older full text. African American studies, anthropology, botany, business, ecology, economics, education, general science, geography, history, language & literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, sociology, statistics.

Dates of coverage vary by journal title. All go back to the very first issue published, but most have a "moving wall" embargo that excludes issues from the most recent X years (where X can be anywhere from 0 up to 10 years, depending on the particular journal; most are in the 3 to 5 year embargo range).

Hint: Use documents to find useful keywords and concepts, and retrieve matching JSTOR content, via JSTOR Text Analyzer

As a public service during the COVID-19 pandemic, JSTOR provided subscribing libraries access to journals free of charge. This expanded access is expected to expire on June 30, 2023, but the Thompson Library will continue to have permanent access to hundreds of journals through JSTOR. Please contact the Thompson Library if you have any questions.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Oxford's AASC is a reference work focused on African and African American topics. It is a good starting point to find basic facts and background information for your research project.

African History Books and eBooks

Historians often publish their work in books as well as shorter journal articles. And while journal articles are very specific in their topic, books have the space to include more information. Search the library's catalog for books and ebooks related to African history.

If you want a book from one of the Ann Arbor campus libraries, you can place a Get This request to have it sent to the UM-Flint's Thompson library.

Library Catalog This link opens in a new window
Online catalog of the University of Michigan-Flint Thompson Library. Most libraries at UM-Ann Arbor can also be searched via the catalog.

Get This
Put holds on items from the Flint campus and order books from the Ann Arbor campus.