Research Guides: American Immigration: Sociological Perspectives: Library Databases: Journal Articles & Book Chapters

Searching for Journal Articles & Book Chapters

Several different databases can be used to search for journal articles and book chapters:

U-M Library Articles Search
very broad, multidisciplinary article search engine with both scholarly and popular articles
Sociological Abstracts
scholarly literature from journals in sociology and related social science disciplines
America: History & Life with Full Text (EBSCO)
scholarly literature covering United States and Canadian history and culture, from pre-history to the present
Historical Abstracts with Full Text (EBSCO)
scholarly literature covering the history of the world (excluding United States and Canada; use this database only if you are looking at non-U.S. or Canada immigration)

Search strategy

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	[Country] OR [Ethnicity/Nationality] OR ["Ethnicity/Nationality American"]
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	[country or region to which your group immigrated]

You are welcome to try other search variations as well. Click below for a reminder of the search strategy used for the library catalog (books and videos).

Click to see Black Americans example

Search strategy: Black Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	Black OR "African Americans" OR "Afro Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration OR "great migration"
AND	"United States"

Click to see Chinese Americans example

Search strategy: Chinese Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	China OR Chinese OR "Chinese Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	"United States"

Click to see Colombian Americans example

Search strategy: Colombian Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	Colombia OR Colombian OR "Colombian Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	"United States"

Click to see Irish Americans example

Search strategy: Irish Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	Ireland OR Irish OR "Irish Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	"United States"

Click to see Italian Americans example

Search strategy: Italian Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	Italy OR Italian OR "Italian Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	"United States"

Click to see Jewish Americans example

Search strategy: Jewish Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	Jews OR Jewish OR "Jewish Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	"United States"

Click to see Mexican Americans example

Search strategy: Mexican Americans

Start by using the same basic search strategy that you used in the Library Catalog:

	Mexico OR Mexican OR "Mexican Americans"
AND	immigrants OR immigration OR migration
AND	"United States"

U-M Library Articles Search

U-M Library Articles Search

Use this search after running your search in the Library Catalog
Switch from Catalog to Articles using the menu near the top of the page
Use the Format filter to refine your search to Journal Articles
- You can also continue to search for books in the Articles search, using the Format filters for Book / eBook; Book Chapter; or Reference
  - Articles search will look for your search terms inside the full text of e-books; whereas, the Library Catalog searches only the catalog record (not the full text)

Sociological Abstracts

Sociological Abstracts

Set up the Advanced Search:
- Select "Add a Row" to insert a third search box
- Change the drop-down field selection menu from "Anywhere" to "Anywhere except full text - NOFT" to help increase the relevancy of your search results
- Scroll down beneath the search boxes to add limits for Source Type and Language
  - Source Types: select Books and Scholarly Articles
    - You may also add and remove limits after you run the search

America: History & Life

America: History & Life with Full Text (EBSCO)

Set up the Advanced Search
- Enter your search terms
- You do NOT need to change the default search field
  - The default is to search the title/abstracts/subjects; you can change this to search the Full Text if you want to expand your search (however, this may decrease overall relevance)
- Scroll down to add in limits for Publication Type and Language
  - Publication Type: select Academic Journal and Book
  - You can also add (or remove) these limits using the Refine Results options after you run your search on the results page

Last Updated: Jun 2, 2025 3:03 PM

Subjects: Social Sciences