Bibliographic Essay

The United States is often referred to as a nation of immigrants - a melting pot - due to the large number of its foreign born residents.  Between the years of 1870 and 1910, the United States saw its greatest inflow of immigrants.  More than twenty million immigrants entered the country during those forty years.  This fact resulted, in part, from the gains of the industrial revolution - industries were experiencing one of their greatest booms.  The first wave of immigrants were welcomed, however the later were not welcomed by the "native born" Americans.  They lacked skills,  "good breeding" and became undesired, during  a time when the arrival of unskilled labor was no longer in demand.  These Americans saw their job security challenged by immigrants that were willing to accept lower wages to secure jobs.

Some of these immigrants had the extra burden of having noticeable characteristics that could be used by anyone seeking justification to shun them.  The large number of immigrants into the urban cities also put a severe strain on the housing situation.  This strain- coupled with discriminatory practices - eventually led to the creation of ghettos.

As much as these immigrants were hated or disliked by Americans, everyone agrees that they performed a much-needed service.  It was their willingness to provide a cheap source of labor and to work the most difficult and often menial jobs that helped enable the United States to make the economic gains that it made.

References

Collier, C. (2000).  A century of immigration: 1820-1924.  NY: Benchmark Books.

Katz, W. (1993)  The great migrations: 1880s-1912.  Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn.

Stotsky, S. (1996).  Land of Immigrants (Immigrant Experience).  NY: Chelsea House Publishers

back to top

GENERAL INFORMATION

"Immigration" refers to the movement of population from one country to another.  If you are searching of information on the movement of population from one section of the country to another, search the term "Migration". 

 

This guide is designed to help you learn more about the multidisciplinary aspects of immigration in general and to get you started on your research in this field.  There are many resources available on this subject.  Some are listed below.  Keep in mind that you may narrow your search in this field by focusing on a specific culture and/or population, as well as adding other terms to your "immigration" research such as: social welfare, anxiety, law, citizenship, religion, work, discrimination, and many more.  Some of these sources are meant to provide general information, while others are geared toward advanced study in the field. 

Everything you need to begin your research is found at the library homepage - go to:   http://www.cnr.edu/home/library/index.htm  

 
back to top

 

 

 

 Search The Gill Library CATALOG for books, videos, journal titles and more.

The College of New Rochelle Library uses Library of Congress subject headings as the standard for subject searching. Unlike searching by keyword, where any term or wording of a topic can be entered into the computer, subject searching requires you to use the exact wording of an official Library of Congress subject heading in order to retrieve search results. Some useful standard subject headings on Immigration are:

Emigration and Immigration

Assimilation (Sociology)

Population Transfers

Add the following terms to the above subject headings to get more specific results:

- Government policy

- History

- Law and Legislation

- Social Aspects

- United States

For precise results of items relating specifically to Immigration, search using any of the terms above and browse the subject list.  You will find a greater concentration of items under the terms "Emigration and Immigration", however, don't forget to browse all the related subjects listed!

 

For results that are not so specific (for example books that may dedicate sections or one chapter to this issue, but are not necessarily devoted to the issue of Immigration), search by Keyword using the term "Immigration" and browse the result list. You will find that a large number of results is retrieved and therefore it would be wise to narrow down your focus by adding more terms to your original search.  For example: Immigration and:

·         Culture

·         Society

·         Discrimination

·         Welfare

·         Poverty

·         ethnicity

·         race

·         history

 

 For additional help on how to search the catalog, go to:  Catalog Search Tips

 

REMEMBER: If you can't find what you need at Gill Library, please search Other Library Catalogs on our website, or ask a Reference Librarian for assistance requesting an Interlibrary Loan. 

  

back to top

BOOKS 

 

SOME books available in the REFERENCE COLLECTION relating to Immigration

(Click on the title to see the record in our catalog):

 

Illegal Immigration

 

The Italian emigration to the United States, 1880-1930: a bibliographic register of Italian views, including selected numbers from the Italian Commissariat of Emigration, Bollettino dell'emigrazione

 

Dictionary of American immigration history

 

America's newcomers: an immigrant policy handbook

 

Population: opposing viewpoints

 

Immigration and illegal aliens: burden or blessing?

 

The Ellis Island Sourcebook

 

Urban ethnicity in the United States: new immigrants and old minorities

 

Immigration law and procedure in a nutshell

 

The Law of Immigration

 

Atlas of American Migration

 

How to get a green card: legal ways to stay in the U.S.A.

 

  

back to top

 

 

 

SOME books available in the CIRCULATING COLLECTION relating to Immigration:

(Click on the title to see the record in our catalog):

 

 

Illegal Immigration

 

Immigration law and procedure in a nutshell

 

Immigration issues

 

Immigrant women tell their stories

 

Workers without frontiers: the impact of globalization on international migration

 

Controlling immigration: a global perspective

 

Unwelcome strangers: American identity and the turn against immigration

 

Migrations and cultures: a world view

 

Assimilation, American style

 

  

back to top

 

  

 

JOURNAL TITLES

CNR subscriptions

(click on each title to see complete holdings information)

 

European journal of migration and law

 

Journal of ethnic and migration studies

 

Immigrants & minorities

 

International Journal of Multicultural Studies

 

International Migration

 

Journal of American Ethnic History

 

 For more full text journals in the field of Immigration go to:   Law, Politics & Government: Political Science: Immigration & Emigration FULL TEXT ONLINE JOURNALS. 

 

back to top

 

 

 

 

Some VIDEOS available in our catalog relating to Immigration:

(Click on the title to see the record in our catalog)

 

Call Number	Title
VID 549	Out of Ireland
VID 251	Journey to America
VID 1349	El Sueño Americano
VID 1135	My American girls
VID 991	The Boxer

 

 

back to top

 

Search for ARTICLES in Gill Library Databases:

(For help on how to search some of our databases go to: Database Search Tips

 

 

To search for articles (many in full-text) search Gill Library's databases.  These databases are arranged by subject, or alphabetically by the database's name. 

 

Specific databases that index articles relating to Immigration would be listed under History.  Different databases should be consulted depending on the focus and scope of your search. 

 

Once you are in a specific database, you should be certain that you are using valid terms.  (See "Search the Catalog" for a list of possible terms)   To obtain the best results, however, browse the "subject" or "thesaurus" tab within each database. If you need assistance with this, narrowing your search or any other question, please feel free to ask a librarian.

 

It is recommended that you begin with the database "Academic Search Premier" or “Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center” due to its broad spectrum content.  Once you have a good overview of your topic, search "JSTOR" and “SAGE” although you should search as many databases as listed in the above link.

 

back to top

 

 

Browse the Gill Library INTERNET RESOURCES page under Government/Politics:

Go to:  Selected Internet Resources

There you will find links to various sites and organizations relating to Immigration.  For example:

Immigration and Naturalization Services

U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Department of State

Other possible sites to visit include:

American Immigration Center

United States Immigration Support

Immigration Emigration & Naturalization Research in Genealogy

Want to search the Web independently? The best strategy is to make use of a Search Engine (Google, Yahoo, etc.), but remember to thoroughly evaluate your results before accepting the information you retrieve.

 

back to top

 

 

LISTSERVs:

A LISTSERV® is a commercial mailing list management system that allows you to subscribe to or create, manage, and control an electronic mailing list. Mailing Lists are email-based discussion groups. Each member that is subscribed to a particular mailing list receives a copy of every message sent to that list via E-mail. 

LISTSERVs can be a valuable resource for a researcher as long as one keeps in mind that messages are not necessarily posted by experts in the field.  Information obtained from LISTSERVs should be verified whenever possible.  If you need help subscribing, searching archives, or posting a question on a LISTSERV, please see a Reference Librarian.  Some examples of LISTSERVs relating to the field of immigration are:

Law Student Immigration Listserv

OIE Immigration @ UGA.edu

back to top

NEED MORE HELP?

Come to the Reference Desk during regular library hours for further assistance, or, feel free to ask a Librarian via E-mail at any time.  E-mail inquiries will be answered within 24 hours of being submitted.

back to top

 

Ana E. Fontoura, MLS, MS
Assistant Professor
Electronic Resources Librarian
Gill Library
The College of New Rochelle
914-654-5456
afontoura@cnr.edu