Guides: SAAJ 100 (Allen): Home

Welcome to the library guide for SAAJ100! On this guide, you will find information to help you explore the complex world of social action and justice. If you ever have any questions, need help using a library or online resource, or want personalized assistance researching a topic, please reach out to me directly through email (nicholas.dandrea@pepperdine.edu) or by scheduling an appointment.

Required Material

Readings for Diversity and Social Justice
Call Number: E184.A1 R386 2018

Available at the front desk of the library and can be used for 2 hours at a time in the building. Please have the call number handy when requesting it (see above)

Research Starting Points

The following two resources are great places to get solid, well-researched information on topics of interest. They're especially great if you're just starting to learn about something.

CQ Researcher

Provides professionally fact-checked and footnoted reports on the most current and controversial issues of the day.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context

Information on social issues including articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, interactive maps, videos, and streaming audio.

The following links are for two premier American newspapers. You can create an account and read both papers completely free using your Pepperdine information. These are great for learning about many recent events in America and beyond.

New York Times (NYTimes.com)

**Access requires logging in with a Pepperdine email on the NY Times homepage. Find step-by-step log-in instructions on the access guide to log in. **
Wall Street Journal (WSJ.com)

**Access requires logging in with a WSJ.com account. Register using your Pepperdine email address.** Get unlimited access to WSJ.com, WSJ mobile apps, curated newsletters and podcasts.

Government Information

The following links will help you begin looking for information from and about our federal government.

USA.gov
Official website for government services and information.
GovInfo
Provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
The Constitution Annotated (CONAN)
Provides a legal analysis and interpretation of the United States Constitution based on a comprehensive review of Supreme Court case law and, where relevant, historical practices that have defined the text of the Constitution.
Supreme Court of the United States
The official site of the US Supreme Court, which includes opinions, dissents, case information, and argument transcripts.
Congressional Research Service
CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.

Primary Sources

This a select list of primary sources having to do with social issues. If you'd like guidance on locating something else, please reach out to me.

Independent Voices
Digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists and the extreme right-wing during the latter half of the 20th century.
Student Activism

Primary sources documenting the history of student organizing in the U.S.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States: A Selection of Primary Sources (ProQuest)
Selection of 1,600 primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.
Civil Rights Digital Library (CRDL)
Free online access to historical materials, primary sources and educational resources from museums, libraries and archives documenting the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
Gender Issues and Sexuality: Essential Primary Sources, 2006

Focus on social issues of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries including speeches, legislation, magazine and newspaper articles, essays, memoirs, letters, interviews, novels, songs, and works of art.

Academic Articles & Books

EBSCOhost databases

Full-text databases and popular databases ranging from general reference collections to specially designed, subject-specific databases.
ProQuest Databases

Multidisciplinary collection of scholarly and trade journals, newspapers, magazines, dissertations, working papers, case studies, and market reports.

Below you'll be able to search for books at Pepperdine Libraries and beyond. Here are some useful tips for searching our library:

Use the filters to improve your results. I recommend using the library filter (shows you what we have) and the format filter (choose between ebooks, print books, articles, etc).
Use quotation marks around phrases to enhance your results. For example "Pepperdine University" will produce only results that contain those two words together and in that order
Use TI: before your search words to search just the titles of things and use AU: before an author's name to see their works

Need a book or article we don't own? Use our interlibrary loan service!