Critical Race & Ethnic Studies 100 (Vang)

The words you type into the search box affect your search results. Not all authors use the same language to describe similar topics, so you will need to try a variety of searches.

• Create a list of possible words that could appear in a book or article related to your topic of interest.
• Come up with synonyms or related terms for those.
• If you're researching a topic from an historical point of view, it may also be helpful to come up with historical terms that may be pejorative today.
• Stick to using 2-4 nouns when searching.

Example: Native Americans

• indigenous people
• First Nations people
• Lakota

Example: critical theory

• critical pedagogy
• critical information literacy
• critical race theory

When you run a search, make sure to look at the subject terms listed next to your search results (on the left in EBSCOhost databases). Think of these as hashtags on Instagram. You can then look for articles with those subject terms to find other potentially relevant items.

When you find a relevant article, explore the subject terms included to help you find more items.

Databases also have tools to help you discover subject terms.

Most EBSCOhost databases have a tool to help you discover subject terms. See EBSCO Academic Search Complete > Subject Terms. You will want to look at the top when ASC opens.

Most databases have filters to help you limit your search results by date, type of article, peer review, methodology, language, geography, etc.