Scope

Affirmative action refers to a series of steps, legislation, and practices in recruiting, selecting, hiring, and promoting that are designed to overcome the present effects of past discrimination against members of minority groups. In the United States the major minority classifications include age, race, religion, national origin, and sex. This Research Guide provides an resources for all sides of the issue.

Overview

Affirmative Action: An Encyclopedia
College Library Reference Collection: HF 5549.5 A34 A426 2004

Civil Rights in the United States
College Library Reference Collection: E 184 A1 C47 2000

Encyclopedia Americana
College Library Reference Collection: AE 5 E333 2001
Refer to "Affirmative Action," volume 1, page 241

 Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 1992 (updated daily)
Britannica Online is a searchable collection of authoritative references, including Britannica's latest encyclopedia articles. Basic instructions for Encyclopædia Britannica Online

Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics
College Library Reference Collection: BJ 63 A66 1998
Refer to "Affirmative Action," volume 1, pages 63-80

Encyclopedia of Civil Rights in America
College Library Reference Collection: E 185.61 E544 1998

Feminism: A Reference Handbook
College Library Reference Collection: HQ 1410 H365 1998

Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions
College Library Reference Collection: KF 4548 O97 1999

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center 1990 - to date (updated daily)
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center (OVRC) includes the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference USA sources and provides viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.

Finding Journal and News Articles

Below are links to databases that cover this subject area. The truncation symbol for all of them is an asterisk (*) unless otherwise noted.

Sample searches for databases:

affirmative action
affirmative action programs
discrimination in employment
reverse discrimination
affirmative action and (colleges or universit*)
affirmative action and (jobs or employ*)
affirmative action and government
affirmative action and (laws or legislation)
affirmative action and women
affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
affirmative action and women and employ*
affirmative action and minorit* and employ*

Recommended Databases:

Academic Search 1984 - to date (updated daily)
This library database indexes approximately 3,100 popular magazines and academic journals and provides the full-text articles from approximately 1,000 journals. Basic instructions for Academic Search

Business Full Text 1982 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 400 key business periodicals, including trade magazines and scholarly journals, covering all aspects of business. Basic instructions for Business Full Text

CQ Researcher November 1991 - to date (updated weekly)
Contains weekly reports from Congressional Quarterly that cover the most current and controversial issues. Basic instructions for CQ Researcher

Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe Dates Vary (updated daily)
Contains the full-text articles from U.S. and international newspapers (including the New York Times, June 1980 - to date), as well as some news and business magazines and trade journals. The truncation symbol is an exclamation point (!). Basic instructions for Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe

ProQuest Research Library 1988 - to date (updated daily)
Indexes over 2,000 general-interest and academic journals. Nearly 1,000 periodicals are full-text. Dates vary, but many full-text journals go back to 1988. Basic instructions for ProQuest Research Library

Readers' Guide Full Text and Retrospective 1890 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes 240 popular magazines in a wide range of subject areas. Full-text coverage of 131 titles begins with 1994. Basic instructions for Readers' Guide Full Text

Social Sciences Full Text 1983 - to date (updated monthly)
Indexes more than 415 scholarly journals in economics, politics, public administration, public health, sociology, criminology, environmental and urban studies, psychology and anthropology. Basic instructions for Social Sciences Full Text

More Databases:

ERIC 1966 - to date
ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) contains citations and abstracts of the international journal and report literature in education and related fields. Subjects include all aspects of education, including child development, classroom techniques, computer education, counseling and testing, administration, higher education, and library science. Basic instructions for ERIC

Ethnic NewsWatch 1960 - to date (updated monthly)
A full-text collection of more than 200 newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority and native press. Basic instructions for Ethnic Newswatch

GenderWatch 1980 - to date (updated quarterly)
A women's and gender issues database with full-text coverage of most journals. Basic instructions for GenderWatch

Public Affairs Information Service (PAIS) 1972 - to date (updated quarterly)
Indexes journal articles, books, government documents, statistical compilations, committee reports, directories, serials, reports of public, intergovernmental and private organizations, and most other forms of printed literature from all over the world. The full-text of the articles is not available in the database. Basic instructions for PAIS

Finding Books

MadCat
Books on affirmative action can be found in MadCat, the UW-Madison library catalog.

Sample keyword searches:

"affirmative action" and universities
"affirmative action programs" and "United States"
"affirmative action programs" and Wisconsin
"affirmative action" and any specific institutions or minority group
http AND "affirmative action" (to find electronic resources)

Internet Sites

The Affirmative Action and Diversity Project: A Web Page for Research
http://aad.english.ucsb.edu/
The Affirmative Action and Diversity Project, created by Carl Gutierrez-Jones (Univ. of California, Santa Barbara), pulls together an array of sources to promote research and discussion on the issue. Provides links to other affirmative action pages on the Web.

The Origins of Affirmative Action
http://www.now.org/nnt/08-95/affirmhs.html
Brief historical information from NOW, the National Organization for Women.

 

Organizations

Supporting Affirmative Action Policies

Affirmative Action Information Center
http://www.feminist.org/other/ccri/cahome.html
Sponsored by the Feminist Majority Foundation, this is a broad-based coalition of state and national organizations who support affirmative action.

American Association for Affirmative Action
http://www.affirmativeaction.org
A national non-for-profit association of professionals working in the areas of affirmative action, equal opportunity, and diversity. They promote understanding and advocacy of affirmative action to enhance access and equality in employment, economic and educational opportunities. Contains links to many other resources.

Americans For A Fair Chance
http://fairchance.civilrights.org/
Americans for a Fair Chance (AFC) was founded on the belief that the measurable gains accomplished by affirmative action contribute to the prosperity and health of our families and communities. AFC aims to transform the affirmative action debate so it is grounded in a factual understanding of both the progress made and the continuing racial and gender discrimination.

University of Michigan
http://www.umich.edu/~urel/admissions/
The University of Michigan's site compiles information related to their involvement in affirmative action admissions lawsuits. The site contains a legal overview, FAQs, supporting research, as well as briefs and letters of support for the University of Michigan's affirmative action policies.

Against Affirmative Action Policies

Adversity.Net
http://www.adversity.net
Adversity.Net is a non-profit, educational organization founded in 1997 to promote fair and equal treatment under the law without regard to race, gender or ethnicity. Adversity.Net advocates against racial preferences, quota, set asides and race based "targets" and "goals," and believes that affirmative action is "reverse discrimination."

Center for Individual Rights: Civil Rights - Affirmative Action
http://www.cir-usa.org/index.html
The Center for Individual Rights (CIR) is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to the defense of individual liberties. CIR objects to racial preferences and affirmative action.