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ENVR 221 - The Ecology of Food and Farming

Finding Articles in History

Considerations of Search Terms:

After consulting a reference source, you are ready to start searching for journal articles. Keep in mind that you may need to find synonyms and other keywords to search for your research. For example, if you were researching Hmong farmers in Northwest Arkansas after the Vietnam War, here are some considerations:

  • Geopolitical boundaries and terms may be broader or have changed depending on the time period. For example, research on Hmong migration from the 1970s may use the term Indochina to refer to parts of China, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. 
  • Language around migration is constantly evolving. Using outdated or even problematic terms may be helpful in finding sources from historical time periods. For example, the terms pioneers, evacuees, refugees, migrants, aliens, émigrés, immigrants, or "members of a diaspora" may be used to refer to the same groups of people. Think about how this may have changed or developed in relation to the group you have chosen.
  • Using broader geographical terms like "The South" may bring up more results, adding specific regional terms may also narrow down your results, for example "Ozarks", but both would bring up research on Arkansas. Think about this in relation to the group you have chosen.

Library Search+:

To access LibrarySearch+, go to the Library Homepage and select 'LibrarySearch+'. This will search a number of databases at the same time, which can be helpful in bringing up a lot of information. Use the left-hand menu to narrow down your results using the peer-review, date, subject and other limiters.

To narrow down results, select 'Scholarly and Peer-Review'. To find journal articles, select "Journal Articles" under Content Type. It can also be helpful to select different Subject headings to narrow your scope down even further.

In this search, I was able to find my first peer-reviewed article on the subject:

Vang, Chia Youyee. "Making ends meet: Hmong socioeconomic trends in the U.S." Hmong Studies Journal 13 (2012). Gale Academic OneFile (accessed November 3, 2021). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A335825933/AONE?u=bates_main&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=d6956eb2.