Africana Studies

Books Provide:

• Dedicated treatment
• Historical overview
• Background information
• Single view or opinion

Use OneSearch to find both print and electronic books in both John Jay's Lloyd Sealy library and all other CUNY libraries.  The search box can be found on our library's homepage:

To search for books only, you may want to limit your search to Books only (see above) although it is not necessary.

Search for a particular book by using an exact title and/or author or a combination of distinctive words from each to determine if the library owns the exact book you want. 

To search for books on a specific subject, type in keyword(s) and/or phrase(s) which best describe your topic.  Broaden or narrow your search if you're dissatisfied with your results.

Click on the title of those books you find relevant.

For print books:  write down the CALL NUMBER and LOCATION of the books you wish to find in the library.  Books are organized according to their location and call number:

Reference  (2nd floor, top level)

Reference Law (2nd floor, south side of building near bound periodicals)

Stacks  (books that circulate, see below)

Call number beginning with A-H are on the 2nd floor

Call number beginning with J-Z are on the 1st floor

Reserve (1st floor, Reserve desk)

It may be helpful to use official Library of Congress headings when researching specific issues related to Africana Studies, specific topics, histories and geographic locations. You may also browse the shelves under some of the following Library of Congress call numbers to find books: 

BL 2400 – 2490: African Religions

BP 64: Islam in Africa

BR 563: African Americans--Religion

BR 1360 – 1470: Christianity in Africa

BV 3500 – 3630: Missions in Africa

DT:  African History and Culture

E441-453: Slavery, Antislavery Movements

E 184 - E 185: African Americans

E 184.C27: Caribbean Americans  

E 185.86 African American Men  

GR 350 – 360: African Folklore

HT 601 - HT 1595: Class, Race, Slavery (general)

JQ 1870 – 3981: Political Institutions and Public Administration in Africa

LC 2699-2913: Education of African Americans 

LG 401 – 681: Educational Institutions in Africa

N 6538.N5: African American Art  

NX 512.3.A35: African American Arts

PL 8000 – 8844: African Languages and Literature

PN 1995.9 N4: African Americans in Motion Pictures 

PR 9205 - 9339: Caribbean and Diaspora literature, not the United States

PR 9340 – 9408: African Literature in English

PS: American Literature, including African American authors

In their article, Browsing through Bias: The Library of Congress Classification and Subject Headings for African American Studies and LGBTQIA Studies, Howard and Knowlton assert that Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) present some disadvantages for researchers in African American Studies (and LGBTQIA studies) due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field and the persistent bias and hierarchical classification  inherent in the system.

With those issues in mind, Erik Ponder, the African Studies librarian at MSU Libraries at Michigan State University, offers valuable information on how to find books using Library of Congress Subject Headings for African American Studies.  Firstly, the standard search term for African American or Black American is African American.  Ponder suggests the official subject headings below as as examples.  These subject headings are also useful when searching within our journal databases.

A few more possibilities:

• African Americans -- Suffrage
• American drama -- African American authors
• Black English
• Black power -- United States
• Civil rights workers -- United States
• Harlem Renaissance
• Poor People's Campaign
• Selma-Montgomery Rights March, 1965
• Slaves' writings, American
• Free African Americans

Sample Headings related to music:

• African American church musicians
• African American music [In place of African American songs]
• Hip-hop
• Rap (music)
• Spirituals (Songs) [In place of African American spirituals]

Sample Headings specific to African American women:

• African American women abolitionists
• African American women clergy
• African American women social reformers

Sample Headings specific to families and students:

• African American families
• African American college students
• African American men (my addition)

Every book has a unique Library of Congress call number. Think of the call number as the address of the book, in that it tells us exactly where, on the shelves, we can expect to find a particular book. Books are arranged alphanumerically on the shelves--first alphabetically, then numerically--by call number. 

For instance:

HA          Alphabetical by letter(s)
1625      All HA books shelved in numerical order
.O87       Further ordered alphanumerically by letter then decimal
1999      Year of publication

The four books above are in the correct order.

See the complete list of Library of Congress subject classes and subclasses here:http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/lcco.html

Books in the Library are organized according to location and call number.

Location:

Reference  (2nd floor, top level)

Reference Law (2nd floor, south side of building near bound periodicals)

Stacks  (books that circulate, see below)

Call number beginning with A-H are on the 2nd floor

Call number beginning with J-Z are on the 1st floor

Reserve (1st floor, Reserve desk)

Call number:

Every book in the Library has a unique call number. Check out How to read a call number to find out how call numbers work.

Books are in ALPHANUMERICAL order (alphabetical by letter then by number)