You can find books by searching by keyword, keeping in mind that the words people use to talk about relevant topics will vary greatly depending on their group identity, academic training, language, context and perspective! Using one simple example, Latino, Latinx, Latine, Hispanic and/or more specific ethnicities like Puerto Rican or Boricua -- all are used in different contexts by different people. Words carry meaning and reflect both power dynamics and the identities of those creating and organizing information.
Pro tip: Find books by subject headings in our catalog, OneSearch! Subject headings are specific words or phrases used to find and organize books and articles by topic. If you find one relevant book in the catalog, check its subject headings and select one to find other books that have been tagged with the same subject heading!
Here are some examples of subject headings that you can use to find books about the political history of Chicano/as and Latino/as in the US
The way information is organized often reflects the prejudices of those that create the system. The Library of Congress, the organization that develops subject headings, has used many outdated and offensive terms to refer to groups of people. Some have been updated, while others remain.
A good example of this is the subject term "aliens" and "illegal aliens." Due in large part to the work of student activists, the Library of Congress has recently updated these terms to "non-citizens” and “unauthorized immigration."