American Immigration and
Migration: Library Resources

This guide lists library resources that can help you in all phases of your research on American immigration and migration. In addition to the reference books described here, the Pace Library has many circulating books that may be of interest.  Please see the section below on finding books in the Pace Library for help in locating circulating books. 

• General Background Sources
• Specific Ethnic Groups
• Information on Other Countries
• Demographic and Statistical Sources
• Finding Books in the Pace University Library
• Finding Journal Articles
• Web Sites
• Citing Your Sources

General Background Sources

The New Encyclopaedia Britannica    Ref Encyclopedia Case

Lengthy articles with bibliographies make this an excellent place to start your research. Consult the index to find information on your topic. See also Britannica Online.

American Immigrant Cultures    Ref E184.A1 A63448 (vols. 1-2)

Articles about the history and culture of 161 non-indigenous American ethnic groups.

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America    Ref Reserve E184.A1 G14 2000 (vols. 1-3)

This reference work contains essays on approximately 150 culture groups of the U.S., from Acadians to Yupiats, covering their history, acculturation and assimilation, family and community dynamics, language and religion.

Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups    Ref E184.A1 H35

An older but still influential book on American diversity.  Includes essays about general topics (labor, intermarriage, American identity and Americanization) and about specific groups.

Racial and Ethnic Relations in America    Ref E49.R33 2000 (vols. 1-3)

Essays dealing with "the most important topics, events and issues surrounding relations between and among the peoples of North America."

Dictionary of Race, Ethnicity and Culture     Ref GN495.6 .D53 2003

Approximately two hundred terms focusing on the historical and etymology of race, culture, and ethnicity are covered in this up-to-date reference work. International in scope with unique coverage compared to earlier reference works covering similar ground.

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Specific Ethnic Groups

Reference books on the following groups can be found in the Birnbaum Library reference section under the following call numbers:

New Americans series

Published by Greenwood Press, titles in this series give detailed information about individual ethnic groups.  Perform a Title search for "New Americans (Westport Conn.)" in the Pace Library Catalog to see which titles the library owns.

It is possible that the library has other circulating books on the group that you are studying.  See the section below on Finding Books in the Pace University Library for more information on locating circulating materials.

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Information on Other Countries

Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations    Ref G 63 W67 2001 (vols. 1-6)

This encyclopedia has standardized entries for all countries. General demographic, social, political, governmental, geographical, and business information are given for each country included.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life    Ref GN333 .W67 1998 (vols. 1-4)

A Companion volume to the Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations. This four-volume set is arranged by geographic region and explores the ways of life among 500 or more culture groups. Among the issues covered are: clothing, rites of passage, living conditions, cultural heritage, and folk crafts.

Country Studies: Area Handbook Series    http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html

Country studies from the Federal Research Service of the Library of Congress.  Each handbook includes a detailed history and other key information.

CultureGrams    Ref GT150 C85 2002 (vols. 1-2)

This two-volume work covers the culture and traditions of more than 170 nations.

Countries and Their Cultures    Ref GN307 .C68 2001 (vols. 1-4)

A four-volume set arranged alphabetically by country. Included are cultural summaries, country maps, photographs, and an index.

The World Factbook    http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

CIA publication describing the geography, government, people, economy and infrastructure of the world's countries.

NOTE: You can also find circulating books in the Pace Library collection about many other countries. Perform a Word (keyword) search using the name of the country you are researching.  See the section below on Finding Books in the Pace University Library for more information.

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Demographic and Statistical Sources

American FactFinder    http://factfinder.census.gov

General population information from the U.S. Census Bureau.  Includes some (not all) of the data from the 2000 Census.

Community District Needs    Ref Reserve HJ9013.N5 E4 2004 (vols. 1-5)

Contains statistical profiles of New York City Community Districts.  Previous editions are shelved in the reference area.  The 2000 Census results for New York's Community Districts are available on the New York Department of City Planning web site (http://gis.nyc.gov/dcp/pa/address.jsp).

FedStats    http://www.fedstats.gov/

Allows you to access statistical publications from over 100 U.S. federal agencies.

The Newest New Yorkers, 1995-1996   Ref Reserve JV7048 .S24 1999

Provides a statistical analysis of immigration to New York City for the mid nineties. Earlier editions of this resource covering the eighties and early nineties are also available in the collection.

Population Growth and Race/Hispanic Composition     Ref HA730.N5 N54 2000

Prepared by the City of New York, Department of City Planning, this work provides data to the 2000 Census of New York City.

Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics 2000: 2000 Census of Population and Housing: New York    Ref HA541.5 2000 (vols. 1-2)

Two hefty volumes of tables detailing New York State demographics, from the 2000 Census.

Racial and Ethnic Diversity    Ref E184.A1 R78 1998

Demographic information on five major U.S. ethnic groups: Asians, blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and whites.

Statistical Handbook on Racial Groups in the United States    Ref E184.A1 H417

Compendium of statistics on the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S.  Check the index for statistics relating to your group or topic.

Statistical Abstract of the United States    Ref Reserve HA202 (1880-; latest at Ref. Desk and on Reserve)

Annual publication of the U.S. Census Bureau giving the highlights of statistics gathered on a regular basis by both government and private sources. In some cases, relevant web sites are given. A wide range of topics such as: health, population, education, crime, travel and foreign country information are covered. The Statistical Abstract is also available on the web at: http://www.census.gov/statab/www/.

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Finding Books in the Pace University Library

You can find other books on your topic by searching the online Pace Library Catalog by subject or keyword. Subject searches target the specific Library of Congress Subject Headings that have been assigned to the books that the Pace Library owns.  Unless you know the subject headings that pertain to your topic, you may want to begin with a Keyword search.  Once you have found a source that you find useful, look at the Library of Congress Subject Headings towards the bottom of the catalog record to determine the best terms to use in a Subject search for further materials.  Some examples of subject headings include:

For additional tips on searching the catalog, see the library's guide to Using the Pace Library Catalog.

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Finding Journal Articles

To find references to journal articles on your topic, and in some cases the articles themselves, use one of the library's databases.  To access Pace Library databases, go to the library home page (http://library.pace.edu), click on Databases, and use the pull-down menu labeled "Subject Research Area" to select the subject area most appropriate to your topic.  You may also choose a specific database from an alphabetical list.  Use the databases listed below to find citations and abstracts, and in some cases full-text journal articles, on immigration and migration.

America: History and Life

Indexes and abstracts literature on the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistoric times to the present.  Help on searching this database is available.

Academic Search Premier

Full Text database of humanities, social sciences, non-technical general sciences and current events.  Help on searching this database is available.

JSTOR

Contains back issues of scholarly journals.  Help on searching this database is available.

Research Library

Contains citations, with abstracts, to more than 1,800 general-interest periodicals. Included are over 500 periodicals related to the social sciences, nearly 400 related to the humanities, more than 150 in the general sciences field, and approximately 200 business titles. More than 200 of the journals are available in full text.  Help on searching this database is available.

Sociological Abstracts

English-language periodicals in sociology, social work, and other social sciences. Abstracts only.  Help on searching this database is available.

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Web Sites

The Pace Library maintains lists of high-quality resources in various subject areas.  To find these topical lists, go to the Pace Library home page (http://library.pace.edu), then click on Internet Resources.  Use the pull-down menu to select a subject research area.  Useful categories for research on American Immigration include: Multiculturalism/Diversity, Sociology, and Statistics.

To search for additional information on the Web, you will need to use a subject directory or a search engine.  For more information, see the library's page on Internet Search Engines. 

If you are using resources from the World Wide Web, it is especially important that you evaluate their accuracy, authority, currency and objectivity. For more information, see our page on Evaluating Resources.

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Citing Your Sources

Once you have finished your research and written your paper, you will need to prepare your bibliography and cite any sources you have referenced within the text. The library has prepared some information on citation styles for print and electronic resources. You can access it on the Pace Library web site at http://www.pace.edu/library/pages/instruct/citing.html.  Please check with your instructor if you are unsure of which citation style to use.