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AAAD 58: Health Inequality in Africa and the African Diaspora: Books & Articles
Starting Your Search
You can search the library’s catalog through our website here: https://catalog.lib.unc.edu/
Start by entering a few keywords related to your topic in the library catalog search bar. Once you find a relevant item, check the Subject Headings listed in its record, these are standardized terms that link to other materials on similar topics. Clicking on them is a great way to discover related resources. You can also narrow or expand your search using the filters (called facets) on the left side of the catalog screen.
For example, your research question is: How do food deserts contribute to health inequalites in NC communities?
Keywords or search terms related to this research question could be:
- "food deserts" AND "North Carolina"
- "food disparities"
- "access to healthy food" AND "low-income communities"
- "urban food deserts" AND "chronic disease"
- "health outcomes" AND "food insecurity" AND "North Carolina"
- "food security"
Examples of subject headings for this research question are:
- "Hunger -- United States -- Prevention"
- "Children -- Nutrition -- Government policy -- United States"
- "Food Systems"
Searching for Sources Effectively
- Follow the Bibliographic Trail: One proven method for gathering reliable information efficiently is to follow the citations or references from one source to another. The author's bibliography can lead you to other sources on the topic
- Subject Headings: If you find an interesting title in the library catalog or article database, open the record and scroll down to alternate Subject Headings. Click on the link and it will take you to addional materials with the same subject/topic.
- Identify keywords: Before searching the Library Catalog or other databases, take a few minutes to write down all the words that describe your topic. Use these words and synonyms in keyword searches.
General and multidisciplinary databases
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Academic Search PremierFind information on academic areas of business, social sciences, humanities, general academic, general science, education and multi-cultural topics; resource provides access to major popular and scholarly journals with many full-text articles.
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Articles PlusIndex to hundreds of millions electronic resources, including journal and newspaper articles, e-books, dissertations, and media in campus library collections.
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Google ScholarEnables you to search specifically for scholarly literature, including peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from all broad areas of research. Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.
Google Scholar provides the "cited by" feature which traces an article's topic from the time of publication forward.The cited by link will show other articles that have cited this resource. When combined with an article's bibliography, you are then able to locate a project within a scholarly conversation. Be sure to configure your Google Scholar account so that you gain full access to articles provided by the University Libraries.
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JSTORProvides an image archive of important scholarly journal literature in nearly all the humanities and social sciences disciplines, international and foreign areas studies, and many of the sciences. UNC patrons have access to extensive retrospective holdings of hundreds of journals, starting with the first issues. Excludes the most recent 2-5 years of currently available journals.
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ScopusA large citation and abstracting database providing comprehensive coverage of the peer-reviewed journal and conference literature, with links to full-text where available through the library; includes scientific, technical, medical, social science and arts and humanities disciplines and indexes over 20,500 titles from more than 5,000 international publishers including over 340 book series. Like Web of Science, Scopus allows researchers to perform citation searches to see how many times a work has been cited, by whom, and to rank searches by times cited, for the period 1996 -present, as well as its curated index of over 375 scientific web pages and over 24 million patents.
You can find links to individual databases that may be helpful on the E-Research by Discipline page of our website. Links to African Studies related databases.
Subject specific databases
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AnthroSourceDeveloped by the American Anthropological Association (AAA), AnthroSource provides over a century publications online. It has current issues of the AAA's most critical peer-reviewed publications and archives of all AAA journals.
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Ethnic NewsWatchA full-text collection of newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. This collection of articles, editorials, columns, reviews, etc. provides a broad diversity of perspectives and viewpoints.
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Historical AbstractsCovers the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United States and Canada) and indexes nearly 2,300 journals in over 40 languages.
Note: Limited to 6 users at a time. -
ProQuest Social Science DatabaseResearch covering topics in sociology, social work, anthropology, and politics.
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PubMedDatabase of biomedical literature from the National Library of Medicine covering journal articles about medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, biology and public health from 1950 to the present; multiple mobile apps available, provides access to MEDLINE, etc. Includes links to full text of UNC-CH's electronic journal subscriptions.
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Sociological AbstractsDatabase covering over 2500 journals in sociology, both theoretical and applied, and related disciplines including anthropology, economics, education, medicine, community development, philosophy, demography, political science, and social psychology. Articles in 30 different languages from about 55 countries.
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Global HealthA public health database that provides information on international health, biomedical life sciences, non-communicable diseases, public health nutrition, food safety and hygiene. More than 2.6 million records from 1973 to the present day sourced from over 7,000 serials, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, patents, theses, electronic publications and other hard-to-find resources. Publications from over 100 countries in 52 languages. Over 185,000 records added each year.
Reference Resources
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CQ ResearcherThe CQ Researcher is the perfect answer for people beginning research on current topics. It covers the most current and controversial issues of the day. From Abortion to War, each issue gives you a comprehensive review of the controversies, historical background, chronology of important events, opposing views from experts on the subject, and extensive bibliographies for additional research.
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Issues and Controversies on FileContains full text articles on current topics of interest, arranged in opposing points of view. It is intended to give users a quick grasp of the essentials of more than 250 controversial news topics. It also contains chronologies, illustrations, maps, tables, sidebars, bibliographies and contact information.
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Points of View Reference SourceProvides students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. Essays provide questions and materials for further thought and study and are accompanied by thousands of supporting articles.
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Oxford Bibliographies OnlineProvides sophisticated online recommendations to the core scholarship on a subject as determined by experts in the field. Each module constitutes a convenient and comprehensive introduction to the essential body of literature that has shaped research on a topic. At the click of a mouse, you therefore have 24/7 access to expert recommendations that have been rigorously peer-reviewed and vetted to ensure scholarly accuracy and objectivity.
Each OBO subject database allows you to identify the core authors, works, ideas, and debates that have shaped the scholarly conversation so you can find the key literature. All the bibliographic essays have been peer-reviewed, and the specific entries are linked to full-text content available through the web or the UNC Library. The "My OBO" feature also allows you to create a personalized list of citations.
What is a scholarly article?
Scholarly resources have the following features:
1. They are written by experts - look for an author's credentials or affiliations.
2. They are written for other experts or people in academia. Think of each scholarly work as a voice in an ongoing conversation to which you will add your voice when you write a paper.
3. They use scholarly language with technical, discipline specific vocabulary.
4. They provide verifiable and reliable evidence for claims. Even if the resource is a general history/overview it will contain well researched information that the reader can verify.
5. They may be peer reviewed. Many journals go through an editorial process where other experts review and assess the information.
Some databases will let you check a box to limit to peer reviewed articles. You can also look at the journal's website which will explain the editorial process including whether or not the journal is peer reviewed.
What to look for:
- Bibliographic information (author, title, publisher, date, volume and issue number)
- Author credentials and affiliations (what and where of expertise)
- An abstract stating a summary of the article
- Science and social science articles will most likely have an introduction, methodology (how research was conducted), results, discussion, and conclusion
- Notes, references, or works cited; This information is provided so readers know where the information was obtained, can verify sources, and/or use information for their own research.
Ethnographies in Davis library
Ethnographic research
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Ethnography
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Ethnography: The Basics introduces a broad and beginner audience to ethnography as a research methodology with diverse applications. By using everyday language and developing a warm and inclusive tone, the book provides an accessible entry point to the topic. It offers a picture of the practice of ethnography that is both human and humane, tackling some of the practical barriers, ethical complexities, and lived experiences in an honest and straightforward way. Organised into eight chapters, the book provides a comprehensive overview of the unique purpose, value, and scope of ethnography, as well as a practical guide as to what the practice of ethnographic research involves, such as steps for designing research, gathering data, and analysing and presenting findings. Without relying on assumed familiarity with or interest in discipline-specific histories and frameworks, Ethnography: The Basics combines clear structure, plain language, and thoughtfully selected examples and stories to welcome students into this interesting and valuable subject. The book will also be of great interest to academics and professionals who wish to supplement their ethnographic knowledge.
ISBN: 9781032513119Publication Date: 2025-04-23
Books
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Understanding Health Inequalities and Justice
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The need for informed analyses of health policy is now greater than ever. The twelve essays in this volume show that public debates routinely bypass complex ethical, sociocultural, historical, and political questions about how we should address ideals of justice and equality in health care. Integrating perspectives from the humanities, social sciences, medicine, and public health, this volume illuminates the relationships between justice and health inequalities to enrich debates. Understanding Health Inequalities and Justice explores three questions: How do scholars approach relations between health inequalities and ideals of justice? When do justice considerations inform solutions to health inequalities, and how do specific health inequalities affect perceptions of injustice? And how can diverse scholarly approaches contribute to better health policy? From addressing patient agency in an inequitable health care environment to examining how scholars of social justice and health care amass evidence, this volume promotes a richer understanding of health and justice and how to achieve both. The contributors are Judith C. Barker, Paula Braveman, Paul Brodwin, Jami Suki Chang, Debra DeBruin, Leslie A. Dubbin, Sarah Horton, Carla C. Keirns, J. Paul Kelleher, Nicholas B. King, Eva Feder Kittay, Joan Liaschenko, Anne Drapkin Lyerly, Mary Faith Marshall, Carolyn Moxley Rouse, Jennifer Prah Ruger, and Janet K. Shim.
ISBN: 9781469630359Publication Date: 2016-11-07 -
The Reproduction of Inequality
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An important analysis of the difference class makes in reproductive health choices Can you run a marathon, drink coffee, eat fish, or fly on a plane while pregnant? Such questions are just the tip of the iceberg for how most pregnant women's bodies are managed, surveilled, and scrutinized during pregnancy. The Reproduction of Inequality examines the intense social pressure that expectant and new mothers face when it comes to their health and body-care choices. Drawing on interviews with dozens of pregnant women and new mothers from poor, middle-class, and mixed-class backgrounds, Katherine Mason paints a vivid picture of the immense weight of expectation that comes with the early stages of motherhood. The women in Mason's study universally sought to give their children a healthy start in life; however, their chosen approaches varied based on their socio-economic class. Whereas middle-class mothers attempted a complete lifestyle change and absolute devotion to the achievement and maintenance of "the healthy pregnant body," poorer women made strategic choices about which health goals to prioritize on a limited budget, lacking the economic and cultural capital required to speak and perfectly adhere to the language of "good health." The unfortunate result is that middle-class mothers are more likely to be seen by others and by themselves as "good" parents, whereas the efforts of working-class mothers are often misread as displaying inadequate concern about their health and that of their child. This in turn contributes to longstanding stereotypes about poor families and communities, and limits their children's chances for upward mobility. The Reproduction of Inequality is a compelling analysis of the impact of class on new mothers' approaches to health and wellness, and a sobering examination of how inequality shapes mothers' efforts to maximize their own health and that of their children.
ISBN: 9781479801947Publication Date: 2023-07-25
