Librarian
Multiple Paths into the Scholarship
There are multiple avenues into the historical scholarship of a topic, subfield, or area. Some of these paths are represented by a specific tool while others are a strategy or approach.
- Known secondary literature
- Reference works
- Finding articles (look in: Indexes and databases)
- Finding books (look in: Catalogs like Catalyst)
- Book reviews
Reference works
Oxford Bibliographies: Latin American StudiesCall Number: OnlineISBN: 0199766584An excellent place to start. Search for sub-topics within this large reference set.Oxford Bibliographies: Gender in Postcolonial Latin America [Latin American Studies] by
One article from the Latin America Bibliography. Organized thematically, not by time.- Call Number: [online]Includes citations for memoirs, oral histories, and other primary sources; plus citations for scholarship about women, race, labor, migration, and other topics as they relate to the Cuban Revolution.
Oxford Bibliographies: "The Cold War" [International Relations] by
Call Number: [online]Publication Date: 19 SEPTEMBER 2014Oxford Bibliographies is a great place to start your research. It will help give you a general overview of the topic, and lots of helpful pointers for places to look next.
- HLAS: Handbook of Latin American Studies This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
A bibliography pointing to key scholarship on Latin America.
Searching Catalyst
Common sub-headings to tack onto countries and other things...
- Politics and government
- Social conditions
- Foreign relations
- History -- 20th century
- Latin America
In practice, it looks like this:
Subjects about the Cold War...
- Cold War -- Social aspects -- Latin America
- Cold War -- Political aspects -- Latin America
Subjects about Latin America...
- Latin America -- Politics and government -- 1948-1980
- Latin America -- Social conditions -- 20th century
- Latin America – Foreign relations – United States
Subjects about other geographic regions...
- United States – Foreign relations – Latin America
- Afro-Latin America
- Cuba -- History -- Revolution, 1959
- Chile -- History -- 20th century
Subjects about people or groups of people...
- Castro, Fidel, 1926-2016
- Revolutionaries -- Latin America
Subjects about women and gender...
- Women -- Political activity -- Cuba -- History -- 20th century
- Feminism -- Latin America
- Gay rights -- Latin America
Other specific topics...
- Political violence -- Latin America -- History -- 20th century
- Liberation theology -- History
- Human rights -- Latin America
Indexes and Databases
HINT: You'll find more articles in Historical Abstracts, but America: History and Life will also have good scholarship about the history of Latin America from the US point of view.
- Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
The primary place to find scholarship on world history. (For U.S. and Canadian History, use America: History and Life). Covers publications from 1955 - present. - America: History & Life This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations, subject indexing, and abstracts)
Contains information about scholarly articles on the history and culture of the U. S. and Canada. (For World History, use Historical Abstracts) - HAPI: Hispanic American Periodicals Online This link opens in a new window
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(Searches through citations and subject indexing)
Includes journal articles about Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, and Latinos in the United States. Covers 1970 - current.
