Tips for searching Catalyst:

Begin with an advanced keyword search.

• Enter words that describe your topic (names, places, events, etc.).
• When you find a book on your topic, examine its subject headings for relevance to your topic.
• Click on a hyperlinked subject heading to perform subject heading search and retrieve related books.

Perform a subject heading search in Catalyst only if you know a valid Library of Congress subject heading.

Search "African Americans" to browse a list of relevant subject headings, such as:

• African Americans -- Folklore
• African Americans -- History -- 1863-1877
• African Americans -- Massachusetts -- Boston -- Social conditions

Note that many Library of Congress subject headings relevant to African American studies do not begin with "African Americans":

• American Drama -- African American Authors
• Blacks in motion pictures
• United States -- Race Relations

Browsing the stacks can help you evaluate the library's collection in a given field of study. The following call number ranges contain works relevant to African American studies. 

NOTE: During Spring 2020 you will not be able to physically browse the stacks; however, each catalog record includes a "Virtual Browse" function, which allows you to see the books (print or electronic) that would be "shelved" next to the book you are looking at: