Ethnic Studies 150C -- Rivera Library Research Guide

You will encounter a variety of terms or subject headings depending on the database or web site. You may find that you need to try multiple terms or keywords to find the results you need for your research. There can be a delay in academic language to include colloquial or natural everyday language. Terminology can often be outdated or inaccurate as well. 

Databases often use a controlled language list which might reflect the preferred vocabulary. Chicano, Chicana, Chicanx, and Chicane will rarely be used, but Mexican American, Hispanic American, Latino, Latina, Latinx, or Latine may appear as the preferred terminology. Keep in mind the same could potentially apply to various terms (this is not an all-inclusive list): African Americans, Black Americans, Blacks, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Native Hawaiians, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Vietnamese Americans, South Asian Americans, East Indian Americans, Filipino Americans, Native Americans, Indians of North America, Indigenous, and American Indians are some examples.

Truncation:

Truncation, also called stemming, is a technique that broadens your search to include various word endings and spellings.

• To use truncation, enter the root of a word and put the truncation symbol at the end.
• The database will return results that include any ending of that root word.
• Examples:
  latin* = latin, latina, latino, latinas, latinos, latinx, latine
  chican* = chicane, chicanx, chicana, chicano, chicanas, chicanos
• Truncation symbols may vary by database; common symbols include: *, !, ?, or #