Research Guides: HIST 223: Old Age in the Modern Age (HC): Communities

American Communities

Encyclopedia of American Jewish History
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The encyclopedia is arranged into twenty-six thematic sections each of which has essays which end with suggestions for further reading.
"A Multicultural Chronology of Welfare Policy and Social Work in the United States," by Anthony M. Platt and Jenifer L. Cooreman. Social Justice 28(1), Spring 2001, 91-137.
"This chronology is designed to introduce future social workers to significant events, policies, people, and publications in the history of welfare policy and social work in the United States...Issues of race and racism, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexuality are central to the chronology's perspective."
OneHistory: Diversity in America
Primary sources and images from many different American cultures
Oxford African American Studies Center: The Online Authority on the African American Experience
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An online combination of encyclopedia articles, essays from Companions, and biographical sketches. Relevant articles include: "Old Age" and "The Elderly."
Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas
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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

Aging—Cultural aspects

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

American Decades
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This is a multi-volume set about 20th century American history broken down into decades. Material includes primary source excerpts, timelines, topical articles, and biographical sketches. For the nineteenth century, see the companion series, American Eras (H Magill E169.1 .A471979).
Encyclopedia of American cultural and intellectual history
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See the section, Cultural Groups, in volume 2 for brief articles about different groups within the United States. This includes groups defined by religion, sexuality, and social class, in addition to ethnic and racial groups
Encyclopedia of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
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Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century
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Offers over 500 articles about important aspects of 19th century society.