Books and other materials including CDs, DVDS, and more, can be found using The CAT.
Use the Advanced Search for more options, including the ability to limit searches by date, a useful tool for locating primary sources (for example, look for "African-Americans" and limit to 1950-1960).
This is the online catalog of materials owned by Penn State Libraries. All formats (books, journals, audiovisuals, maps, recordings, etc.) are included. Circulation status for individual items is also provided. Coverage: Presently contains about 7 million records. Updates: Continuous up-to-the-minute as new records are added.
If Penn State does not have what you want request it through our InterLibrary Loan system
If you are still not finding what you need, submit a request for the title through ILLIAD, the Libraries' interlibrary loan service. First time users must register
E-Books
Many historical books have been scanned and are available online. Two significant collections are:
Contains the text of hundreds of online reference works including: The Encyclopedia of African American History and Culture, and the Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America as well as general works on American History.
Scholarly essays from highly regard reference works produced by Oxford University Press.
African American Studies Center The AASC features the new, three-volume Encyclopedia of African American History 1619-1895, published by Oxford in 2006; the three-volume Black Women in America, Second Edition, edited by Darlene Clark Hine in 2005, the highly acclaimed five volume Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience The Center also includes content from much-anticipated forthcoming print publications including the African American National Biography project (estimated at 8 volumes), edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., scheduled for publication in 2008; and the Encyclopedia of African American Art and Architecture, due for publication 2007. In addition to these major reference works, AASC offers other key resources from Oxford's reference program, including the Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature and selected articles from other reference works.
Statistics - for data on African Americans in the United States (population, income, education,etc...) see ourStatistics Research Guide