Deaf Culture

A Pathfinder

SCOPE

Deaf culture has played an increasingly important role in helping to understand American Sign Language (ASL), as well as in giving insight as to how Deaf people interpret the world around them. Deaf culture has specific aspects, including history, values, jokes, language, education, rules, and social relations.

Remember, this pathfinder will not tell you about all of the materials the Library has about Deaf culture. You must do the basic research yourself. This pathfinder will guide you to the appropriate places to begin your search for information. If you need further assistance, please ask at the Reference Desk.

INTRODUCTIONS

General encyclopedias, such as World book encyclopedia or Encyclopedia Americana, will have little or no information about Deaf culture. For introductory information about Deaf culture, check the following reference books:

Van Cleve, John, ed. Gallaudet encyclopedia of deaf people and deafness. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1987. (On reserve at the Circulation Desk.)

• The article by Yerker Andersson, "Culture and subculture", Volume 1, pages 261-264, gives a definition of culture and how it applies to the concept of Deaf culture. Use the index in Volume 3 to find related articles under the following headings:
  • Deaf community
  • Deaf population
  • Education
  • Folklore
  • History

Gannon, Jack. Deaf heritage: a narrative history of deaf America. Silver Spring, Md.: National Association of the Deaf, 1981. (On reserve at the Circulation Desk.)

• This book is about American Deaf culture as a whole. Suggestions for starting places are: Information about schools in Chapter 1, pages 1-58; examples of humor and folklore in Chapter 8, pages 203-210; general history and important concerns in Chapter 12, pages 255-270.

BOOKS

You can find books about Deaf culture in the ALADIN online catalog by using the following keywords. Use the WRLC Libraries Catalog. Using the Keyword search option, try these keywords:

• clubs AND deaf
• culture AND deaf
• deafness AND "social aspects"
• "social environment" AND deaf
• "social psychology" AND deaf
• "united states" AND deaf AND history

Remember that keyword concepts must be joined with the word AND, and phrases of two or more words must be enclosed in quote marks.

PERIODICALS

Periodicals (magazines and journals) are good places to find recent information on a topic. There are periodicals in almost all subject areas, and the information contained will vary from one periodical to another. Be aware of the fact that many periodicals and newsletters (such as Gallaudet today and Silent news), that contain articles about deaf culture, are not covered by any index. Please ask a librarian for assistance. You can access some periodical articles using online databases or printed indexes. The printed indexes are located on the middle level of the Library across from the Circulation Desk. Most, but not all, the online databases are in the Articles and other Databases part of ALADIN. The exceptions are available through the Gallaudet University Library home page on the Web, http://library.gallaudet.edu.

Online databases

To find information about Deaf culture, use the education database ERIC in ALADIN. You can use the following keyword search:

• deaf culture

One of the best general periodical databases is the Periodical Abstracts database in ALADIN. For finding information about Deaf culture in this database, use the following keywords:

• deaf culture
• deafness culture

To find information about Deaf culture using Education Abstracts Full Text, use this database on ALADIN with the keywords:

• deaf culture

The Index to deaf periodicals, a Gallaudet Library-created online database, can lead you to some articles about deaf culture in several popular deaf periodicals. This database can be reached through the Deaf-related resources section on the Gallaudet University Library home page, http://library.Gallaudet.edu, or directly at http://liblists.wrlc.org/deafbiog/. Use the Browse...Subject heading:

• culture-deaf

Also browse the rest of the listings for other deaf culture-related entries, especially under the term deaf.

You can also find information about deaf culture using the Exceptional Child Education Resources (ECER) database in ALADIN. For finding information about Deaf culture in ECER, use:

• deaf
• deafness

Newspapers

Newspapers are also good places to look for current information or to get an overview of the day-to-day coverage of a particular issue. There are special indexes available to help you find information in newspapers. For searching articles in the New York times, Washington post, use the printed New York times index and Washington post index in the Index Area, on the Middle Level across from the Circulation Desk (near the Deaf Periodicals area).

To find information about Deaf culture using the New York times printed index, use the following subject heading:

• Deafness

In the Washington post index, use the following subject headings:

• Deaf
• Deaf--Education
• Deaf--Employment
• Deaf--Means of communication

OTHER RESOURCES

Videotapes

Videotapes are available at the Circulation Desk. You can find videorecordings about deaf culture in the WRLC Libraries Catalog section of ALADIN. In a Keyword search, use these terms:

• culture AND deaf AND videorecording
• folklore AND deaf AND videorecording
• "american sign language" AND videorecording
• "sign language" AND videorecording

This videotape is a particularly good introduction to Deaf culture:

American culture: the deaf perspective. San Francisco Public Library, with the assistance of Deaf People, Inc., 1981. [Signed, with voice-over.]

• This is a set of three tapes which discuss the different aspects of Deaf culture.

Deaf Subject Files

Vertical files include materials such as newspaper clippings, brochures, maps, poetry, and other non-book printed materials. To find information about Deaf culture, look in the Deaf Subject File on the Lower Level, next to the Archives. These files are kept locked. To have them unlocked, ask someone in the Archives to help you. Use the following headings:

• Clubs-Deaf
• Deaf culture, American
• History-Deaf
• Sign language
• Social psychology
• Wit and humor--Deaf

Remember: If you are having trouble locating information, or if you would like any additional help, please ask at the Service Desk.