Xavier University Library: Media Guides: Black History & Culture

ACCUNET Multimedia Archive/AP Images (1840-present; updated daily; full-text captions) contains over 750,000 of the Associated Press' best photographs, over 380,000 audio files (requiring RealPlayer) and links to 800,000 full-text articles. About 800 photos are added daily and about 200 photos from the historical collection are added monthly. It includes maps, graphs, charts, logos, flags and illustrations, including 2,000 graphics using Spanish instead of English. Audio files, images and other graphics may be downloaded and used for educational purposes. Educators may search by state and grade level for images applicable to a specific state curriculum standard. It is produced by the Associated Press and the user interface is provided by Accuweather, Inc.

African American Song (first half of 20th Century; XLinks; artist list) documents the history of African-American music in an online music listening service. The collection contains a diverse range of genres such as jazz, blues, gospel, ragtime, folk songs, and narratives among others. This release features 12,000 tracks of great historical recordings featuring iconic artists such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Memphis Minnie, Blind Willie McTell and Huddie Ledbetter. Users must register to create a playlist. Faculty can create class folders. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago. This subscription is limited to 3 simultaneous users.

American Heritage Dictionary (all full-text) is the online version of the 4th edition of the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. It contains 90,000 entries featuring 10,000 new words, 70,000 audio word pronunciations, 900 illustrations, language notes, and word-root appendixes. It is produced by Houghton Mifflin Company and the user interface is provided by Bartleby.com.

Annals of American History (all full-text; XLinks) is an encyclopedia that covers the arts, business, democracy, discrimination, diversity, education, expansion, family, government, imperialism, labor, law, leisure, peace, religion,and war. It provides 2,000 primary documents in American history, including speeches, historical accounts, memoirs, editorials and cultural criticism. Multimedia files include over 500 pictures, hundreds of video clips, and audio files of famous speeches. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Encyclopaedia Britannica.

History Resource Center (much full-text; podcasts; XLinks) provides integrated access to over 1,000 historical (primary) documents, more than 30,000 reference articles, and over 65 full-text journals covering themes, events, individuals, and periods in U.S. history from pre-colonial times to the present. It includes access to citations for over 180 additional history journals. This database includes podcasts (audio files). To listen follow the on-screen insrtructions. Be patient while the podcast downloads. It is produced by Thomson-Gale and the user interface is provided by InfoTrac.

In the First Person (1550-present; all full-text; XLinks) is an in-depth index of more than 3,350 collections of personal narratives in English from around the world. Users can keyword search more than 650,000 pages of full-text by more than 15,000 individuals from all walks of life. It also contains pointers to some 3,500 audio and video files and 30,000 bibliographic records. The index contains approximately 20,500 months of diary entries, 63,000 letter entries, and 17,000 oral history entires. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago. Although this database is free, it links to other subscription-only Alexander Street databases, many of which have been purchased by Xavier's library.

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries & Oral Histories (1800-1950; all full-text; XLinks) contains 2,162 authors and approximately 100,000 pages of information providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Composed of contemporaneous letters and diaries, oral histories, interviews, and other personal narratives, the series provides a rich source for scholars in a wide range of disciplines. The collection is particularly useful to researchers, because much of the original material is difficult to find, poorly indexed, and unpublished; most bibliographies of the immigrant focus on secondary research; and few oral histories have been published. In selected cases, users will be able to hear the actual audio voices of the immigrants. The showcase provides a selection of cartoons from Puck Magazine and the images of a diary by Rose Qwong. Users can search by author, source, year, place, nationality & heritage, personal event, resource and subject. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

CultureGrams (all full-text; XLinks) includes a world, children and states editions. It contains a photo gallery, recipe collection, famous people, data tables and definitions. Select from an A-Z list of countries/regions/states or select an area on a map. Each country includes a detailed map, flag, national anthem, current time, currency converter, recipe collection, facts and statistics as well as sections on history, climate, the people, customs, courtesies, lifestyle and society. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Brigham Young University.

Historical Statistics of the United States (most from 1800s-1990s; full-text essays & introductions; downloadable data) provides quantitative data on population, work & welfare, economic structure & performance, economic sectors, and governance & international relations. It covers social, behavioral, humanistic, and natural sciences including history, economics, government, finance, sociology, demography, education, law, natural resources, climate, religion, international migration, and trade. It permits users to search and download data as well as create customized tables, spreadsheets and graphs. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Cambridge University Press.

LexisNexis Statistical Publications & DataSets (exportable data) includes datasets from many sources, including the US government, international organizations, and the private sector. It covers all subject areas, including banking and finance, criminal justice and law, education, energy resources and demand, food and agriculture, government and politics, health and vital statistics, housing and construction, industry and commerce, international; labor and employment, natural resources and environment, population and income, prices and cost of living, stocks and commodities, and transportation and travel. Users can search datasets by keyword; browse datasets by subject or source; display datasets by trend, map or ranking; and output datasets in print, PDF, delimited, Excel or SAS formats. Datasets can be limited by date and geographic area (country, state, county). Years available varies by dataset; for example, births 1999-present and breast cancer 1973-present. It also features datasets currently in the news, such as crude oil price, 30-year fixed mortgage rate, airline on-time arrival rate, campaign contributions for both Obama and McCain, gasoline prices, the prime rate and the unemployment rate. It is compiled by and the user interface is provided by LexisNexis. Click Customize Data to access the datasets. Users will need to run the Java installation.

STAT-USA (all full-text) provides business, economic and trade information from the Federal government. The State of the Nation section provides current and historical economic and financial data. The GLOBUS & NTDB section provides current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, country analysis, and the National Trade Data Bank (NTDB). It is produced by and the user interface is provided by U.S. Department of Commerce.

Statistical Abstract of the United States (1878-present; updated annually; all full-text) provides data tables for population; vital statistics; health and nutrition; education; law enforcement, courts and prison; geography and environment; parks, recreation, and travel; elections; state and local government; federal government finances and employment; national defense and veteran affairs; social insurance and human services; labor force, employment, and earnings; income, expenditure, and wealth; prices; banking, finance, and insurance; business enterprise; communication and information technology; energy; science and technology; land transportation; air and water transportation; agriculture; natural resources; construction and housing; manufactures; domestic trade and services; foreign countries and aid; outlying areas; comparative international statistics; 20th century statistics; and industrial outlook. Tabular data is available in portable document format (PDF) and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing and printing. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

World Almanac (1998-present; updated annually; some linked full-text) provides references included in the World Almanac and Book of Facts, World Almanac of the USA, World Almanac of U.S. Politics, World Almanac for Kids, and Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. It also includes WorldCat (books) and FirstSearch (articles) entries for topics searched. It is produced by World Almanac Education Group and the user interface is provided by OCLC (Online Computer Library Center).

World Data Analyst (all full-text; XLinks) offers detailed comparative and ranked statistics for countries around the world, using both the most recent statistics and historical figures. Users can create tables and charts, and can export data into spreadsheets. It also provides links to country articles from the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

American Film Scripts (1903-present; all full-text; XLinks) contains 497 scripts by 605 writers together with detailed, fielded information on the scenes, characters and people related to the scripts. When complete, the collection will include more than 1,000 scripts and over 100,000 scenes of life as portrayed in the movies. Users can search by writers, scripts, years, characters, people, and subjects. The showcase provides sample page images from selected scripts. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

American National Biography (updated quarterly; all full-text; XLinks) is the online version of American National Biography published in 1999 in 24 volumes. It offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women, from all eras and walks of life, whose lives have shaped American history. It contains thousands of illustrations, more than 80,000 hyperlinked cross-references, links to select web sites, and Oxford Companion to United States History. Special features include biography of the day, a teacher's guide, 12 jumpstart your research topics, and special collections (Black History, Women's History, Asian Pacific American Heritage, Hispanic Heritage, and American Indian Heritage). It is published by and the user interface is provided by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies.

American Periodicals Series (APS) (1740-1900; updated quarterly; all full-text; RefWorks help; XLinks; title list) covers the development of American culture, politics and society across 150 years. It is arranged in three series: 1740 to 1800, the period of transition from British colony to emerging nation; 1800 to 1850, pre-Civil War and the era of debate over slavery; and 1850 to 1900, Civil War and Reconstruction. It covers 1,100 historic American journals including Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine, Independent Reflector, Medical Repository, Liberator, North American Review, Harper's Bazar, Vanity Fair, and Ladies Home Journal. Magazines of these periods cover the literature, science, religion, arts, and history of the time. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by ProQuest.

Biography Reference Bank (all full-text; XLinks; RefWorks help) combines Wilson's Biographies Plus Illustrated and Biography Index. It includes biographical profiles, recent and feature articles, interviews, essays, book reviews, performance reviews and criticisms, speeches, and obituaries. It covers over 500,000 people and includes over 36,000 images. Entries include a list of books by and about the individual. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by H. W. Wilson.

Biography Resource Center (all full-text; XLinks) contains over 330,000 biographies on nearly 220,000 people from nearly 80 sources, such as Contemporary Authors, Encyclopedia of World Biography, Contemporary Black Biography and Religious Leaders of America. It provides quick reference information on 900,00 people in the Complete Marquis Who's Who^®. It covers people throughout history, around the world and across all disciplines and subject areas. It includes full-text articles from more than 250 magazines and 20,000 images. Search for people by birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity, occupation or gender. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by the Gale Group. This subscription is limited to 2 simultaneous users.

Black Drama (1850-present; all full-text; XLinks) contains approximately 1200 plays by 201 playwrights, together with detailed information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. The database also includes selected playbills, production photographs, author biographies and other ephemera related to the plays. Some 440 of the plays are published here for the first time, including a number by major authors. Users can search by author, characters, productions, companies, years, plays, theaters, and scenes. The plays have been selected using leading bibliographies and with the editorial advice of James V. Hatch, co-author with Errol G. Hill of A History of African American Theatre and a leading expert in this area. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

Black Thought & Culture (1700-present; all full-text; XLinks) contains 795 sources with 434 authors which includes the non-fiction published works of leading African Americans. Where possible the complete published non-fiction works are included, as well as interviews, journal articles, letters and other fugitive material. Users can search by author, sources, years, historical events, personal events, questions (interviews), and subject. The showcase features full-page images of the Black Panther Party Newspaper from 1968 to 1980. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures and the Environment (1534-1860; all full-text; XLinks) includes about 1,000 primary sources describing North American peoples, cultures and environment that appear in key bibliographies for this academic discipline. It permits searches by author, year, source, place, environment, encounter, fauna, flora, peoples, images, personal event or cultural event. It includes the letters, diaries and memoirs of more than 1,440 authors. It is produced by and the user interface is provided by Alexander Street Press in collaboration with the University of Chicago.

LANDSAT 7 Satellite Images (updated every 16 days) is part of OhioLINK's digital Media Center and makes Ohio-based satellite data available for download or web viewing. Several views are available, including infrared and true color composite. Urban growth, natural resource loss, and crop health are a few of the environmental issues that may be monitored with this type of satellite data. It is produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and the user interface is provided by OhioLINK.

National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Digital Images (XLinks) is a part of OhioLINK's Digital Media Center and contains digital documents related to slavery, abolition, and emancipation. The collection includes abolitionist broadsheets, photographs by Matthew Brady, letters and speeches of President Lincoln and other presidents, and other historic letters, documents, and pictures. The original documents are found in the Gilder Lehrman Collection of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. The digital images were made available through the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The user interface is provided by OhioLINK.

New York Times Historical Database (1851-within four years of the present; all full-text; updated annually; RefWorks help; XLinks) contains full-page and article images of every page of every issue, cover to cover, in downloadable PDF. It includes ads, comics, cartoons, photos, maps and other graphics. It is produced by the New York Times and the user interface is provided by ProQuest.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (4th century BC-2001; updated regularly; all full-text; images; XLinks) is based on the print version of the dictionary in 60 volumes. It contains 55,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles by 10,000 contributers. It includes 10,000 images and references. It features Today's life... and themes such as Political Refugees in Britain and Ask a Woman. It is produced in association with the British Academy and the National Portrait Gallery, London. The user interface is provided by Oxford University Press.

Oxford Reference Online, Maps and Illustrations (all full-text; XLinks) is a cross-searchable database of 3 reference works covering flags and maps as well as a visual English dictionary. It is published by and the user interface is provided by Oxford University Press. This subscription is limited to 5 simultaneous users.

Educational Films and Documentaries (XLinks), formerly the Digital Video Collection, is part of OhioLINK's Digital Media Center and contains 1,976 full-length educational films and documentaries covering a wide variety of subjects. The collection currently includes videos from two distributors: Ambrose Video and Films for the Humanities & Sciences. Real Media Player or Real Media Alternative is required to view videos. It is compiled by and the user interface is provided by OhioLINK.

XPLORE Library Catalog (tips & tricks; RefWorks help; XLinks; video tutorials) is Xavier library's online public access catalog. It includes all of the library's books, journals, audiovisuals, and microform materials. Search XPLORE by keyword, author, title and Library of Congress subject heading. If you don't find what you need, request it online (printable instructions; video tutorial) from OhioLINK, the combined library catalog of 84 colleges and universities in the State of Ohio.

To find digital, streaming, DVD, and FHS videos in XPLORE, limit your search results to the Record Type, Proj. Medium (example), or click the links below for videos in: