ProQuest Black Studies

Abstract

ProQuest Black Studies (PBQS), launched in February 2022, is a multiformat database whose content is a curated collection of new and existing primary and secondary sources. The database covers a wide range of Black history and culture through a variety of formats, including historical Black newspapers, archival documents, government materials, videos, scholarly journals, and essays. Supplemental material includes timelines, bibliographies, topic pages, and collection pages for increased discoverability. The foundational content that constitutes PBQS is that of the existing database Black Studies Center in addition to new archival content, including historical Black newspapers, primary source collections, the Black Abolitionist Papers, American periodicals (selected titles on race and slavery), and British periodicals (selected titles on race and slavery), and forthcoming content, including streaming video, court cases, and more primary and secondary source collections. PBQS utilizes extensive keyword searching in conjunction with indexed terms to locate scholars’ specified research queries within the vast collection of resources, many of which are full text. As of August 2022, this database contains more than 8 million records across 10 million pages with content spanning from 1650 to 2020. ProQuest plans to update the database on an estimated quarterly schedule.