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The African American Experience
The African American Experience is the widest ranging and easiest-to-use online database collection on African American history and culture.
Database Content Selection and Curation
ABC-CLIO is an award-winning publisher of reference, contemporary thought, and professional development content, created to help students, educators,librarians, and general readers of all ages wrestle with complex challenges. Throughout our history, we have invested resources in the development of new content genres, giving our diverse customer and reader communities the opportunity to explore deep factual treatments of the topics that matter, and delivering the most current scholarship and perspectives on those topics.
Our experienced editorial staff compiles database content from a variety of sources, including ABC-CLIO’s award-winning books, recognized scholars and writers in various fields, educators, and professional development specialists.
The materials presented in the Scholarship section are written by scholars and experts in the field. The Scholarship essays follow a "big questions" approach that examines major issues in a topic area—issues that all students may well encounter in their introductory work. By and large, these essays take a position on an issue that has no easy answer. The intention is to bolster critical thinking skills by showing a spectrum of approaches to an issue and allowing students to begin to appreciate the inherent complexities of these big questions as they start to formulate their own views. The Scholarship essays have two goals: 1) to provide informative and thesis-driven essays from multiple perspectives or with different approaches on topics that are mainstays of community college and undergraduate paper assignments, and 2) to model effective essay writing. These essays can be challenging, even controversial. The opinions represented do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ABC-CLIO staff.
Our databases comprise hundreds of thousands of entries; each piece of content is reviewed by multiple editorial staff to ensure content is age-appropriate to the database it is in (Schools or Academic). In our database coverage, we strive to include the voices, stories, and experiences of a wide diversity of peoples, including the stories of those that have been historically underrepresented.
Objectivity and Review
Objectivity and balance are always of the utmost importance to our staff, both in writing pieces and editing work submitted by contributors. We are guided by our editorial boards and advisers, as well as our own editorial policies and fact-checking procedures. Recognizing that every person has inherent bias, we strive toward creating and curating content that is as factual and as free of bias as possible, and have included bias checks and balances as an essential part of our editorial review.
Content Warnings
As a reference publisher, ABC-CLIO aims to present impartial, scholar-driven content supplemented by full collections of primary sources in their original forms. These sources offer historical context and value in enhancing students' understanding of how modern ideas, beliefs, and societal structures are influenced by our past—including prejudices and biases. Primary sources, as fragments of history, often reflect attitudes and values of individuals in particular time periods. Acknowledging dehumanizing language, for example, can be an important part of understanding historical events.
Some of this content may be upsetting or disturbing to modern readers, but we have avoided censoring such terminology in order to both retain historical accuracy and to offer opportunities for students to make connections between past attitudes and ideas, and their roles in shaping many contemporary issues in American society.
We flag instances of harmful terminology and potentially disturbing images with content warnings and encourage teachers to set guidelines for approaching such content in the classroom, especially where material may be quoted or read out loud.
Translations, Closed Captions, and Transcripts
Translations, closed captions, and transcripts are provided by a third-party service to improve accessibility and usage for all users. ABC-CLIO does not review all of the technology-generated content of translations, closed captions, or transcripts and they may contain errors. ABC-CLIO makes no representations or warranties about the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or completeness of any information that appears, and expressly disclaims any responsibility or liability with respect to any errors or omissions.
Questions and Feedback
Drop us a line if you have any questions on the specific editorial policies of any of our Schools or Academic Databases at: customerservice@abc-clio.com.
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The African American Experience Team
Editorial
Judy Fay, Sr. Director, Digital
Julie Dunbar, Manager, Editorial Development
Nita Lang, Editorial Specialist
Jennifer Hutchinson, Sr. Writer/Editor
Ellen Rasmussen, Sr. Media Editor
Tamara Johnson, Writer/Editor
Mary Bagne, Project Editor
Nicki Griffin, Curriculum Specialist
Technical
Susan Basch, Sr. Developer
Chris Martinich, Developer
Eelco Vrolijk, Principal Engineer
Neal Schaefer, Director, Product and Content Management Systems
ABC-CLIO Database Advisors
Paul R. Bartrop, PhD, Center for Judaic, Holocaust, and Human Rights Studies at Florida Gulf Coast University
Lee W. Eysturlid, PhD, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Trinidad Gonzales, MA, PhD, South Texas College
Kyle T. Mays, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles
Tarissa Spoonhunter, MA, PhD, High Plains American Indian Research Institute at University of Wyoming
John R. Vile, PhD, Middle Tennessee State University
Xiaojian Zhao, PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara
