Sickle-cell anemia

I. Find Background Sources

Reference Source:

  • The Cambridge World Encyclopedia of Human Disease
    Important! Don't use the search window at the top. Scroll down to Search in this book.  "View PDF" to read the article.
    The entry includes a great section on the discovery of Sickle Cell and concludes with a lengthy bibliography that might lead you to other sources (including primary sources).If you see a reference that you're interested in, ask us for help finding it. We won't have every reference, but we will have some!
  • History of Science, Technology and Medicine |

    Provides references to articles, books, and book chapters, on medical, scientific, and cultural/social histories of disease.
    Records will identify the author, title, and source (journal title, book title, etc.).
    Note: To find the full article go to the library catalog and search for the source (the journal title, year, volume, issue) rather than the article title. If you can't find the full-text, Ask a Librarian ! We may not have all of them, but we may have some.

II. Search the Library Catalog.

This is one of those large topics that works best through the catalog Subject Browse feature.

  1. Open the library catalog
  2. Enter sickle cell anemia and use the pull-down menu to select [Subject Browse]
  3. Browse the subject headings/subheadings to find some relevant material.
  4. Alternatively, under the Limit Your Search menu, Select "Subject, more" or "Genre"

III. Find Scholarly Journal Articles

  • Database: America: History and Life
    To find articles examining the social/cultural/political aspects
  • Database: Sociology Source
    This is great database for the social and cultural aspects of this topic.
  • Database: PubMed
    The challenge with this topic is narrowing it down! PubMed, and the other science databases have thousands of articles on the medical aspects of sickle cell. Suggested Search: sickle cell anemia and overview finds about 4 pages of articles. Maybe one or two of these will work for you?

IV. Find current and historical “popular” (i.e. written for the general public, rather than for specialists) articles about sickle cell anemia

Current articles:

  • Database: Proquest Research Library
    Add your search terms: "Sickle-cell anemia"
    Under Source type, select Magazines.
    Under Publication Titles,select "more" to choose specific magazines.
    If you wish, use the date limits on the right to restrict to a particular date range.

Historical Articles:

  • Database: Proquest Historical Newspapers
    Select the Advanced Search;
    Add your search terms: "Sickle Cell Anemia" (in quotation marks);
    Scroll down to choose Document Types  -- Articles;
    If you wish, use the date limits  to restrict your results to a particular date range.
  • Database: American Magazines
    This database contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals. Search tips:
    Select the Advanced Search;
    Add your search terms: "sickle cell anemia;"
    Scroll down to choose Document type(s)