Finding background information
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Credo Reference
Provides access to a collection of aggregated and integrated reference books from high-quality publishers.
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Gale eBooks
Gale eBooks offers a broad cross-curricular collection of non-fiction titles, supporting science, geography, history, language arts, business and other subjects.
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Oxford Reference OnlineSpecialty encyclopedias, handbooks, thesauruses and dictionaries; emphasis on American Literature and Western Civilization.
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SAGE Reference E-Books
Growing collection of topic and subject encyclopedias online. Note: To search only UIC subscribed titles, please click the Available to me button on the right.
Finding books
The following techniques can improve your success in searching the catalog for books:
- Use author and title searches for books cited in readings. For example, your syllabus may list Anna Guevarra, Marketing Dreams, Manufacturing Heroes: The Transnational Labor Brokering of Filipino Workers.
- Use Proper Nouns. Proper nouns like Indira Gandhi or Qing Dynasty usually narrow a search and can lead to primary sources.
- Subject Headings. The display of subject headings can suggest search terms and perspectives on your topic. Subject headings bring together books on your topics.
- If one term does not work, try a few others. Experiment with different vocabulary related to your topic. Brainstorm ideas for relevant keywords and use background sources such as encyclopedias for suggestions.
- If the UIC copy is unavailable or if UIC does not have what you need, search I-Share. The I-Share catalog tells you what 70+ academic libraries in Illinois have and you can request online most of the books.
Finding statistics
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Census DataOfficial U.S. site of data from the last census. See also: Historical Statistics of the U.S. elsewhere in this guide.
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Cook County ConnectDemographic data for Cook County. Includes geospacial data and well as ESRI Business Analyst.
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National Center for Education StatisticsThe purpose of the National Center for Education Statistics' website is to provide clear, complete information about NCES' mission and activities, and to serve the research, education and other interested communities.
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Chicago Community AreasThe following Community Area maps include tables that show demographic profiles compiled in 1990 and 2000 by the U. S. Census Bureau, and feature data changes in population, housing, social, and economic characteristics.
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SimplyAnalytics
A web-based mapping, analytics, and data visualization application with 100,000+ data variables, including demographic data from the US Census dating back to 1980, the American Community Survey (ACS), consumer spending data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX), and D&B's Points-of-Interest business directory providing access to over 5 million US business profiles. Additionally, users have access to the MRI-SimmonsLOCAL consumer behavior dataset, which includes data on over 8,000 brands, 450 categories and detailed lifestyle data, the PRIZM Premier marketing segmentation system, and the Community Lifestages dataset. The CDC PLACES health data delivered by SimplyAnalytics provides 27 diverse health measures, including Health Outcomes, Prevention, Health Risk Behaviors, and Health Status. Data is largely available down to the block group level, and custom locations can be created.
To save your searches, you need to sign up for an account using your UIC email address.
Access restricted to 5 concurrent users.
Finding journal articles
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JSTOR
Digitized back issues of scholarly journals with a rolling date of five years ago. Covers a wide variety of disciplines.
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Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)
The Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI) is your source for over 265,000 journal article citations about Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, and Hispanics/Latinos in the United States. Also provides over 60,000 links to the full text of articles appearing in more than 600 key social science and humanities journals published throughout the world.
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SciELO
SciELO is an electronic library covering a selected collection of Brazilian scientific journals.
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Google ScholarUse this link to connect to UIC e-resources!
Pros: Familiar, intuitive search
Cons: Haphazard selection of academic journals -
MLA International Bibliography with Full Text
Produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), the electronic version of the bibliography dates back to the 1920s. The database contains millions of citations as well as full text for 1,000 journals.
Note: to watch the video on how to search, go to MLA International Bibliography on EBSCO
Our EBSCOhost databases will be moving to a new user interface starting Monday, May 19th, 2025 with the exception of CINAHL which will transition on August 1st.
For additional information about searching and managing results, please visit the EBSCOhost Transition Center.
Please send additional queries or comments to: ask@uic.libanswers.com
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Clase and Periodica Index of Latin American journals
Latin American journals specializing in social sciences, humanities, science and technology.
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America: History and Life
America: History and Life provides articles on the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present.
Our EBSCOhost databases will be moving to a new user interface starting Monday, May 19th, 2025 with the exception of CINAHL which will transition on August 1st.
For additional information about searching and managing results, please visit the EBSCOhost Transition Center.
Please send additional queries or comments to: ask@uic.libanswers.com
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Ethnic NewsWatch
Current articles from ethnic-focused news groups worldwide.
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Handbook of Latin American Studies
Selected works on social sciences and the humanities in Latin America (1936 to present).
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SciELO Citation Index (2002-present)
SciELO (Scientific Electronic Library Online) Citation Index provides access to scholarly literature in sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities published in leading open access journals from Latin American, Portugal, Spain and South Africa.
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Communication & Mass Media Complete
Full text coverage of communication and mass media and related fields.
Our EBSCOhost databases will be moving to a new user interface starting Monday, May 19th, 2025 with the exception of CINAHL which will transition on August 1st.
For additional information about searching and managing results, please visit the EBSCOhost Transition Center.
Please send additional queries or comments to: ask@uic.libanswers.com
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CQ : Congressional Quarterly ResearcherProvides snapshots of current affairs. Single-themed reports are researched and written by experienced observers from a range of viewpoints. From 1923 to present.
Streaming Video
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Platino Educa
Platino Educa offers unlimited access to hundreds of Spanish and Ibero-American movies, classified by subjects and covering themes across the Environment, Social Sciences, Language and Literature, Arts, and Social Justice. Some content has captions.
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PBS Video Collection
The PBS Video Collection includes selected documentary films and programs produced by the Public Broadcasting Service. The content spans a wide range of subjects including history, science, biographies, current events, etc. Includes films by Ken Burns, Michael Wood, and series such as NOVA, Nature, America Experience, and more. Includes captions and transcripts.
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Docuseek2Docuseek 2 is a platform for independent, documentary, educational and social issue video and films. It provides access to over 750 documentaries covering a wide variety of subjects including social issues, sustainability, the environment, and many more. Includes captions.
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Kanopy
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions that provides students and faculty access to more than 26,000 films. Kanopy provides students access to one of the largest collections of films in the world – including award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases – on every topic imaginable. If you are a faculty member who needs a film activated for a class, please use the request form in Kanopy. Please include the class name and number, and the date the film is needed.
Subject Librarian
Finding primary sources
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Latin American Weekly ReportLatin American Weekly Report provides updates on key political and economic developments in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
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Latin American Newspapers
Growing collection of Latin American and Caribbean historical newspapers in a partnership between Center for Research Libraries and Newsbank to preserve and provide persistent access to historical newspapers from around the globe.
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SIGLA States and Institutions of Governance in Latin AmericaSIGLA is an online multilingual database that freely provides information on legal and political institutions in Latin America. By democratizing access to these data, SIGLA facilitates the generation of knowledge and increases the transparency of governance in the region.
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Digital Library of the CaribbeanThe Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC) is a cooperative of partners within the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean that provides users with access to Caribbean cultural, historical and research materials held in archives, libraries, and private collections. dLOC comprises collections that include newspapers, archives of leaders and governments, official documents, data for ecosystems, scientific scholarship, hist maps, oral and popular histories, literature, musical expressions, and artifacts.
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LANIC: Latin American Network Information CenterThe Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) is based at the University of Texas at Austin. It strives to provide access to Internet-based information to, from, or on Latin America. While many of the resources LANIC provides facilitate research and academic endeavors, the site is a gateway to Latin America for primary and secondary school teachers and students, private and public sector professionals, and anyone else looking for information about the region.
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Princeton Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean EphemeraThe Princeton Digital Archive of Latin American and Caribbean Ephemera was originally created around the turn of the 20th century and the bulk of its material dates from that time. Yet it also includes material from as late as the present century. A wide array of activists, non-governmental organizations, government agencies, political parties, think tanks, and other organizations created the content to publicize their views, policies, and activities. The formats most commonly included are pamphlets, flyers, leaflets, brochures, posters, stickers, and postcards.