CCSF Library: Latin American &amp; Latino/Latina Studies: Web

Web Sources

Description

Websites are online spaces that host a multitude of content. The collection of content for a website is within the same domain. (In the example below, sfdph.gov is the domain).
- Examples:
  - Website Name: San Francisco Department of Public Health
  - Website Address (URL): https://www.sfdph.org

What do they contain?

Webpages (which contain articles, blog posts, etc)
- Example
  - Webpage: Environmental Health
  - From the Website: San Francisco Department of Public Health

How often are these sources published?

Continuously

Found on:

The "open web." Search engines "crawl" and "index" items found in the open web, such as webpages, blog posts, infographics, PDFs, and other material that people post to the web. The open web contains materials not behind a paywall (such as when an online journal website asks for payment to show you an article). Databases are technically behind a paywall, because they contain material that is accessed after the library pays a subscription fee.

Google Scholar
This search in Google searches only scholarly items. Full-text PDF links are marked on the right side of search results. You can setup linking from items showing in Google Scholar to results in CCSF Library databases by following the simple steps outlined in our video.

Getting Started

In general, we recommend searching CCSF Library resources first, because they contain material that is not freely available on the open web. However, there is lots material on the open web that is not in the library! Therefore, combining these efforts (searching library resources, and then searching the open web) can be effective.

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Constructing a Web Search

Searching for information on the web efficiently requires developing a search strategy. Take your topic and think how you will turn it into search terms. While you can certainly search the web by entering a question, a stronger search strategy would be to choose the most impactful words of your question, and shape it in a way that the search engine understands.

If your research question is "What is the best solution to homelessness in the Bay Area?" the most essential elements to find are solution, homelessness, and the Bay Area. It can help to brainstorm alternatives to the words IN your research question, because different words will surface different results in your search.

Search Word Chart Brainstorm
Keyword (derived from the question)	solution	homelessness	Bay Area
Synonyms	ideas proposals legislation program	homeless unhoused housing precarity unsheltered	San Francisco Oakland East Bay California (broader to see statewide analysis)

Note: the quotation marks around some search terms help tell the search engine that you want results with the words stuck together exactly as you have them.

Combining three of my search concepts, a sample Google search is shown below.

Recommended Web Resources for LALS Research

Use these websites from trustworthy nonpartisan organizations and academic departments to flesh out and augment the research you conduct using Library resources.

Pew Research: Hispanics/Latinos
Get current statistics, polling data, and demographic research on the Hispanic/Latino communities from this nonpartisan fact tank that "informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world."
Latino and Hispanic American Health
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Find high-quality, relevant health and wellness information that is easy to understand, and free of advertising.
Galería De La Raza Archives
Administrative records, programs, subject files, correspondence, clippings, slides, photographs, serigraphs, posters, silkscreen prints, ephemera and other creative materials documenting activities of the San Francisco Bay Area Chicano cultural arts center. The owning institution is UC Santa Barbara Library Department of Special Research Collections hosted by Calisphere.
Lucero (Linda) collection on La Raza Silkscreen Center/La Raza Graphics
As early as 1970, La Raza Silkscreen/La Raza Graphics Center was producing silkscreen prints by Chicano and Latino artists. For almost two decades after its founding, La Raza Silkscreen/La Raza Graphics Center was a major producer of silk screened posters and prints in the San Francisco Bay Area. The collective produced posters for community-based organizations that announced rallies, cultural and educational events, services, and benefits. The owning institution is UC Santa Barbara Library Department of Special Research Collections hosted by Calisphere.
Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings
The Arhoolie Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American Recordings is the largest repository of commercially produced vernacular recordings. The nearly 160,000 recordings in the collection were made primarily in the United States and Mexico and were issued on 78 rpm, 45 rpm, and 33⅓ rpm (long-playing, or LP) phonograph records and cassette and reel-to-reel tapes. The earliest recording was made in 1908, and the latest recordings were released in the 1990s.
"Friends of Diego" Newsletter - Diego Rivera Mural Project
The Diego Rivera Mural Project, sponsored by City College of San Francisco, has as its mission the return of the mural to the position of public importance and influence envisioned by its creator.
Chilean Protest Murals
Protest murals, most of which were destroyed by government authorities soon after they were painted, were created in Chile during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet from 1973-1990. Photographed by Andrés Romero Spethman. From the digital archive of Harvard University.

Latin American & Latino/Latina Studies

Online Search Tips

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