Help
Welcome to the online tour for African American Studies Center. This video demonstrates all of the key features and functionality available on the site.
For information about the African American Studies Center, including its contents and how often it’s updated, please visit our About page.
For answers to some common questions about the site visit our Frequently Asked Questions page. Don’t have access?
Then find out how to subscribe.
Librarians: for information about your subscription, including how to log in to your administrator account, access usage statistics, and download MARC records, please visit our Customer Services page.
Use the table of contents to find out about a specific area of the site:
If you cannot find an answer to your question, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Logging on
You, your library, or an institution with which you are affiliated must have a current subscription to log in to the African American Studies Center for full access. Find out how to subscribe.
Logging on with a username and password
If you have bought your own individual subscription to the African American Studies Center, type your username and password in the login fields in the left-hand navigation bar on the home page.
Please remember: your password is case-sensitive.
If you are a librarian and are having problems logging in, or have forgotten your administrator password, please visit the Customer Services page to learn how to retrieve it.
Logging on from a subscribing institution
If you are logging in from an institution which has a subscription, or if your institution uses a referring URL system, you should authenticate on the site automatically.
If you are returned to the home page, please consult your system administrator or librarian.
If your institution uses Eduserv’s Athens service or Shibboleth, simply click on “Sign in via your Institution” on the home page to reach your Athens or Shibboleth login area.
Logging on with your library card
Some libraries allow remote access to websites to which they subscribe. Your librarian can tell you if that option is available to you.
If your library does allow remote access, simply click on “Sign in with your Library Card” on the home page and then enter your library card number in the field that appears. If you encounter difficulties entering the site using your library card number, please consult your librarian.
Library modules
If you are accessing the site using an institutional subscription, the library module allows you to search library catalogues or research indexes from most site pages.
Click the "Search your library's resources" to open it:
You can use the library module to run a search across any library made available by your library administrator.
Type or paste the term you want to find in the Search box, select the library you want to search from the list and click “Go” or press Enter on your keyboard:
The results of your search are displayed in a new window.
Homepage
Site header
Across the top of the screen is the site header which contains links to useful information. These appear on every page:
- About: find out more information on the African American Studies Center, including details about its sources and how often it’s updated
- Tools and Resources: additional content to help you get the most out of the African American Studies Center
- Subscribe: discover more about the different ways you can purchase access to the African American Studies Center
- Customer Services: information for librarians, including how to log in to your administrator account, access usage statistics, and download MARC records
- News: read about the latest updates and featured articles
You can return to the home page from any other part of the site by clicking on the top banner image.
Search
Running a quick search
To look up a term or topic type it into the Search box on the right-hand side of the screen, under the top banner image, and click the magnifying glass icon, or press Enter on your keyboard.
Advanced search
Click on Advanced Search or the magnifying glass icon in the search box to return a full list of the African American Studies Center content, and then use the filters as described below to refine your search results.
The results of your search are displayed in a Results list – click on any of the main headers in the list to view the corresponding article.
You can use the wildcard * in your search, or Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
Results list
The results that match your search are listed on one or more page(s). The number of results (and your search criteria) appears at the top of the list.
Each of the results in the list consists of the article title, its author, and its publication date (in print and online, where relevant), and a snippet of the article.
To open a result, click on its title.
Anything with a red padlock next to it is unavailable under your current level of access – you will be able to click through to the article, but you won’t be able to read any of the content. Find out how to subscribe in order to get access to this content.
Moving between results pages
The number of pages of results is shown at the top and bottom of the list. To move to any of the numbered pages, click on the desired number.
Sorting results
Quick search results are listed in order of relevance by default, but you can choose to order them alphabetically by title or author or publication date in print or online by clicking on the drop-down box at the top of the Results list:
Narrowing your choices
You can narrow down the list by using the options on the left-hand side of the Results list under the “Modify your search” (or "Advanced search") header. Here you can add query terms within certain parts of articles, query life events, or filter by publication dates, article type, subject, era, or occupation.
If you have added a parameter to your results list, you may have more than one search term or filter listed at the top of the page. Any of these may be removed by clicking the cross next to it. To clear all your search terms, click “Clear all”.
Browse
The Browse options are to the left of the Search box. You can browse the contents of the African American Studies Center by era, occupation, or subject. Click on “Occupation” or “Era” or “Subject” and then click on one of the given options to view a list of matching articles.
By clicking on “Browse all” from this menu you will be taken to the full list of articles available on the African American Studies Center.
Once at this list you can narrow down your choices by using the options on the left hand panel.
Each of the results in the list consists of the title, authors, publication date (in print and online, where relevant), and the first few lines of the article.
To view the full entry, click on its title.
Anything with a red padlock next to it is unavailable under your current level of access – you will be able to click through to the article, but you won’t be able to read any of the content. Find out how to subscribe in order to get access to this content.
Moving around the Browse list
The number of pages is shown at the top and bottom of the list. To move to any of the numbered pages, click on the desired number.
The article page
In order to see the full-text of any article on the African American Studies Center you, or your institution, must have purchased access. Find out how to subscribe.
Relevant bibliographical information, including DOI and publication dates, are under the title. The full text of the article appears immediately below. Article sections and bibliographies will appear in the left hand panel as navigational links.
Outputting articles
To download a PDF of the article, click the PDF icon then follow the instructions provided.
To save the article to your personal account, click the floppy disk icon. Find out more about personal profiles.
To generate a citation of the article, click the pen icon. You can choose MLA, APA, or Chicago formats, and the citations can be cut and pasted directly into your own work. You can also export citations to personal citation management packages, including EndNote, ProCite, ReferenceManager, RefWorks, BibTex, and Zotero (BibText).
To email a link to the article, click the envelope icon and fill in the details as appropriate.
To print an article, hover over the “share” icon and choose “Print” from the list that appears.
To share a link to the article on hundreds of different sites (including Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn), click the share icon and choose one of the options.
Saved articles
To delete a saved article, click the “Delete” option (in the “Action” column). To delete more than one item tick the checkboxes of all the items you want to delete, then click the “Delete” button.
To change tags on a saved article, click the “Edit” option in the “Action” column.
Personal profile
You can create and log in with a secondary, personal set of credentials in order to use the “Personal Profile” feature. This section appears in the top-right of the website.
Please note: this is separate from the account you use to access the content.
By registering for a personal profile you can save content and annotations to your own personal area. To save annotations, sign in to your account first, then use your cursor to select text, click the Annotate button that displays, and key in and save your note. (Please note: these are not the credentials you use to access the site content.) By registering, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Legal Notice.
Your account is organized into three areas:
- Recent activity: this area keeps a record of the articles you have viewed and the searches you have run most recently
- Saved content: any articles, searches, or annotations you have chosen to save are listed here
- Edit account details: use this area to change your password and other details
You can cite any article straight from your personal profile; simply click the “Cite” option under the “Action” column. You can choose MLA, APA, or Chicago formats, and the citations can be cut and pasted directly into your own work.
You can also export citations to personal citation management packages, including EndNote, ProCite, ReferenceManager, RefWorks, BibTex, and Zotero (BibText).
Already have a personal profile? Sign in
Register for an account
Don't have a personal profile? Then click “Create” in the top right corner of the website (just above the banner image), and follow the instructions given.
Signing in
To use your personal profile, you need to make sure you are signed in using the credentials you created at the start of a session. (Please note: this is separate from the account you use to access the content.) You are already signed in to your profile if your name appears at the top right of the window. If not, click “Sign in” and follow the instructions.
Signing out
To sign out of your personal profile at the end of a session, click “Sign out” at the top right of the window, and follow the instructions. (Please note: this is separate from the account you use to access the content.
