4. Find Sources

4. Find Sources-Books

Once you've narrowed your topic and thought about keywords, try searching the databases below for potential sources you can use for your project. Try to find sources that provide evidence to support your thesis. If your keywords aren't working, ask a librarian for help!

Databases / E-Books

The following databases are the best place to start.

Gale eBooks
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Contains Reference books covering many subjects, but primarily in areas of literature and social science (including history), and also some in health and science.
EBook Central
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A collection of over 250,000 eBooks including a variety of subjects including social science, history, literature, business/management, religion, science, medicine, fine arts, education, etc.
eBook Collection (EBSCO)
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A collection of over 260,000 eBooks including a variety of subjects including history, business, social science, political science, literature, science, medical, technical subjects, etc.. Proxy Bypass

Books on Food

Al Dente : a History of Food in Italy by Fabio Parasecoli
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 1780232969
Publication Date: 2014-04-15
Taking readers across the country's regions and beyond in the first book in Reaktion's new Foods and Nations series, Al Dente explores our obsession with Italian food and how the country's cuisine became what it is today.
Cooking Through History: : a Worldwide Encyclopedia of Food With Menus and Recipes by Melanie Byrd (Editor); John P. Dunn (Editor)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 1610694562
Publication Date: 2020-12-02
Cooking through history, places. food and cooking in a World History context.
Food in Time and Place by Paul Freedman (Editor); Joyce E. Chaplin (Editor); Ken Albala (Editor)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0520959345
Publication Date: 2014-11-24
The American Historical Association companion to food history. Food, after all, is one of the most basic human needs and a foundational part of social and cultural histories.
From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express: A History of Chinese Food in the United States by Haiming Liu
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0813574773
Publication Date: 2015-09-09
Historian Haiming Liu explains how the immigrants adapted their traditional food to suit local palates, and gives readers a taste of Chinese cuisine treating food as a social history, Liu explores why Chinese food changed and how it has influenced American culinary culture.
Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America by Frederick Opie
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 1282897772
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Frederick Douglass Opie deconstructs and compares the foodways of people of African descent throughout the Americas, interprets the health legacies of black culinary traditions, and explains the concept of soul itself, revealing soul food to be an amalgamation of West and Central African social and cultural influences.
The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson; Tom Jaine (Editor)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0199677336
Publication Date: 2014-10-01
Thousands of entries provide coverage on every possible food, its history, cultural significance, and culinary usage.
The Potlikker Papers: a Food History of the Modern South by John T. Edge
Call Number: Giles Campus Stacks TX715.2 .S68 E328 2017
ISBN: 9781594206559
Publication Date: 2017-05-16
A people's history that reveals how Southerners shaped American culinary identity and how race relations impacted Southern food culture over six revolutionary decades.
Religion, Food, and Eating in North America by Benjamin E. Zeller (Editor); Marie W. Dallam (Editor); Reid Neilson (Editor); Nora L. Rubel (Editor); Martha Finch (Foreword by)
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0231160313
Publication Date: 2014-03-11
The way in which religious people eat reflects not only their understanding of food and religious practice but also their conception of society and their place within it.
Tabemasho! Let's Eat! : A Tasty History of Japanese Food in America. by Asakawa, Gil.
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 1611729505
Publication Date: 2022
Your favorite Japanese foods, home-cooked, packaged, or served in restaurants, and how they came to delight the American palate.
Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America by Gustavo Arellano
Call Number: Giles Campus Stacks GT2853 .U5 A74 2012
ISBN: 9781439148617
Publication Date: 2012-04-10
Presents a narrative history of Mexican cuisine in the United States, sharing a century's worth of anecdotes and cultural criticism to address questions about culinary authenticity and the source of Mexican food's popularity.
Tortillas, Tiswin, and T-Bones: A Food History of the Southwest by Gregory McNamee
Call Number: E-Book
ISBN: 0826359043
Publication Date: 2017-10-30
He traces the origins of the cuisine to the arrival of humans in the Americas, the work of the earliest farmers of Mesoamerica, and the most ancient trade networks joining peoples of the coast, plains, and mountains. From the ancient chile pepper and agave to the comparatively recent fare of sushi and Frito pie, this complex culinary journey involves many players over space and time.

Search for Books & eBooks

Use the search box below to search the SCC Library Catalog for physical books (in one of our library locations) and eBooks. You can also open the Library Catalog or use the Advanced Search for more search options.

Databases / Articles

The databases have search features to limit your search to a specific type of article.

Credo Reference
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Articles from almost 600 reference books, covering various subjects.
Gale Power Search
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A good general database that covers many subjects, especially current new issues. Has magazine, journal, and newspaper articles, as well as some reference material. Full-text content.
EBSCO General Databases
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Search 10 databases at once: Academic Search Premier, TOPICsearch, MasterFILE Premier, Military & Government Collection, MAS Ultra - School Edition, Vocational and Career Collection, Associates Programs Source, Newspaper Source Plus, GreenFILE, and News (AP, UPI, etc.). Proxy Bypass
Find journal, magazine and newspaper articles. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily.
Statista
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With access to over million statistics on over 80,000 topics from over 18,000 credible sources, this database specialized in market and consumer data, statistics, infographics, reports, plus company insights to support research and help to find statistics, charts, graphs, and other visuals to integrate into papers and presentations.
Modern World History
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A comprehensive look at world history including art, music, literature, politics and other aspects of culture from the mid-15th century to current times including United States. Thousands of subject entries, biographies, images, videos and slideshows, maps and graphs, primary sources, and timelines combine to provide a detailed and comparative view of the people, places, events, and ideas that have defined modern world history and culture.