Discovery Search - Library search which searches through all of the library's resources. Use the Advanced Search option or the search limiters on the left side of the results page to narrow your results.
Academic Search Ultimate - A general database containing journal articles on a variety of disciplines.
ProQuest - Searches through all ProQuest databases simultaneously.
Ethnic Diversity Source - Database with resources on the experience of different ethnic groups in America.
Best to limit search results to include only full text, peer-reviewed sources. This can be accomplished by checking the appropriate boxes on the left side of the results page.
Simply searching "Blackface" can get good results. It might be helpful to add some other terms to make your search more specific, such as "history," "theater," "entertainment," or "culture." If you are only searching for history of blackface in the United States, you can also add terms like "America," or "United States" to your search. To search for multiple terms, you can connect them using "AND" in the search bar. For example, you could search "blackface AND history." You may also add in other terms using an "Advanced Search" option, where you can enter different terms into different lines.
If you are searching for sources about blackface in the 1800s, including "1800s" as a search term will likely not yield many results. Instead, use the terms "18*" or "19th century."
If you find that many of your results are reviews of other sources instead of actual articles, add "NOT review" to your search to remove these from your results.
In the Discovery Search and in most databases, you can also limit your search results to just include articles using the search limiters on the left side of the results page. Other search limiters that may be helpful include creation or publication date, subject, language, etc.
Click here for an example search conducted in the library's Discovery Search. You may have to try a couple of different searches to get exactly what you're looking for.
