Information Center: About Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience
This project evolved from Howard Dodson's vision to provide an encyclopedic treatment of the formation and development of Black studies.
During his tenure as Chief of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Mr. Dodson helped to establish the library as a world renowned research institution. From the early days of establishing the first Black studies programs to current dialogues on the value and need for the discipline, Howard Dodson has participated wholeheartedly in the debate. And no matter how the discipline is defined, scholarship is a necessary component. Thus there will always be a vital need for scholarly resources.
This formal collaboration began with a meeting between ProQuest, Howard Dodson, Colin Palmer (Princeton University), and a group of leading academics. The discussion centered upon the complex nature of Black studies and how best to represent the integral disciplines/subjects that make up any foundational research. ProQuest agreed to design and build the database; Howard Dodson would serve as Series Director; and Colin Palmer would act as Managing Editor for the project. Leading academic experts would survey the existing research on their respective topics and then write a unique analysis of the seminal literature they chose.
Each essay is self-contained, but the essays link together to provide an interdisciplinary survey of the experience of peoples of African descent. Centering on African Americans, African and Black Caribbean experiences are examined as well. The multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary aspects are thoroughly explored. Disciplines include history, religion, sociology, political science, economics, art, literature, and psychology. Intersections and divergences, evolving research theories and historical foundations are scrutinized. Ongoing debates and controversies are presented as well, with a goal of encouraging continuing scholarship.
Key resources consist of academically vetted research chosen to best represent the existing literature. These selected articles, book chapters and primary sources provide students with a core understanding of the topic and give them a strong foundation on which to build. The student can better determine the avenues they wish to pursue in their own scholarly ventures or for personal growth.
Timelines for each essay list important people, places and events that contribute to the framework. Knowing who, what and where leads you to a better understanding of why. Each individual timeline also becomes part of the database timeline where topics can be viewed within a larger context (i.e., what historical events framed literary works).
Bibliographies for each essay allow the library to link to their own holdings and will help with collection development. The researcher can quickly determine the location of further readings and build a reading list in My Archive.
Multimedia is represented with an image and video library linked to respective essays. Over 2,000 images and 200 video clips add a visual perspective to the research process. The multimedia library will be fully captioned and keyword searchable.
Each essay will have its own glossary. Key terms, people, places, events and organizations are defined in context. A brief definition is available with a mouse-over; clicking on the word will open the full glossary with a more detailed treatment.
The Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience provides groundbreaking work from the foremost experts in the field. These experts have taken a comprehensive look at their topic, selecting core articles and book chapters that illustrate the best research, and writing a summary of the work that has been done to date. Additionally, the case is made for areas that require further research - areas of controversy and areas yet to be explored.
