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WRPR 123: Old Age in the Modern Age (HC) Spring 2021

Writing Program 123: Old Age in the Modern Age (Snyder)

American Communities

Community

The theme of community encompasses many potential topics:

  • The role and impact of religious faith, community, and leadership on health, aging, attitude, and decisions about death and funeral planning
  • Attitudes about worth in relation to age, from elder/ancestor worship to age discrimination in the workplace
  • The role of children and extended family in health care, emotional and financial support, and planning and decision-making
  • Networks of recent and established immigrants and how this link impacts attitudes about aging and the experience of aging
  • Ethnic enclaves and community support and how race and ethnicity impacts food choices, medical decisions, and culture-specific medical and psychiatric functioning and care

When you are searching for books and articles on your topic, try to separate the topic into two or three major concepts. Then take each concept and brainstorm several synonyms. These will be your key words that you can connect together for a powerful Boolean search. You might also want to consider historical period, geographic location, and the resource formats and methods you're most interested in.

For more information on locating appropriate databases to find articles, see the Journal Articles tab. For more information on locating relevant books, see the Books tab.

Using Subject Headings

Subject Headings are the way librarians catalog items in a very precise way. Because a great many words and phrases can describe a particular item, it’s important to have a controlled vocabulary we all agree on to best organize items. You can always locate an item’s subjects in the record on Tripod or Worldcat (or any other catalog) as well as in the bibliographic matter in the front of a book. Here are some possibilities for subject headings relating to community:

Historical Periods