LibGuides: History: Background Information

Background Information

There are many handbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias that provide basic information for historical studies. If you are selecting a topic, build a framework by consulting definitions or a quick overview found in these resources and then focus on your topic by searching for more specific information. These materials and many more for all geographic areas are to be found in the Reference Room. (Call number "D" = general and European history, "E" and "F" = American history, and "C"= the auxiliary sciences of history, such as archeology.)

Reference Sources

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History
Comprehensive resource with vetted, reliable, historiographically-informed, and regularly updated background information in all areas of American history. Includes bibliographies for further reading, media and links to digital materials, and continually updated information.

Cambridge Companions Complete Collection This link opens in a new window
Full text access to "Cambridge companion to. . ." books in the areas of literature, classics, philosophy, religion, and culture.
Coverage Dates: -
Cambridge Histories This link opens in a new window
Online access to the Cambridge Histories series. Over 200 titles in a variety of disciplines.
Coverage Dates: -
Gale eBooks (formerly Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
Search and access the full text of selected reference books, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, covering a wide range of subjects.
Coverage Dates: -
Historical Statistics of the United States This link opens in a new window
Data sources and downloadable tables for statistics about the U.S. from colonial times to present.
Coverage Dates: 1789 - Present
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Contains facts, figures, definitions, and translations in most fields, from art and architecture to science.
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Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Search and access the full text of selected reference books, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias, covering a wide range of subjects.
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General

A Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing by D. R. Woolf (Editor)
Call Number: Reference D13 .G47 1998
ISBN: 9780815315148
Publication Date: 1998-07-01
Essays on historians, approaches to writing history, and treatment of historical events; includes texts and references. 2 v.
The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature by Mary Beth Norton (Editor); Pamela Gerardi (Editor)
Call Number: Reference D20 .A55 1995
ISBN: 9780195057270
Publication Date: 1995-03-30
Comprehensive critical overview of the best contemporary historical scholarship selected by specialists; contains an annotated bibliography for each section. 2 volumes online via ACLS Humanities E-Books

United Kingdom & Other Countries

The Cambridge Historical Encyclopedia of Great Britain and Ireland by Christopher Haigh (Editor)
Call Number: DA34 .C28 1985
ISBN: 9780521255592
Publication Date: 1985-09-26
Dictionary-style entries about the United Kingdom; includes a brief bibliography.
Historical Dictionary of United Kingdom by James Panton; Keith A. Cowlard
Call Number: DA34 .P36 1997
ISBN: 9780810831506
Publication Date: 1997-03-20
2 volumes. Includes bibliographical references.

Bibliography of British History
Annotated entries arranged by subject and usually indexed by author and title.
Eighteenth Century, 1714-1789 Ref DA483 .A1 P37 1951
1789-1851 Ref DA520 .B769 1977
1851-1914 Ref DA530 .H355 1976
1914-1989 Ref DA566 .R63 1996

Twentieth-Century Britain by F. M. Leventhal
Call Number: DA566 .T835 1995
ISBN: 9780824072056
Publication Date: 1995-08-01
Essays on people and some topics with brief bibliographies for each article.
Medieval France by William W. Kibler (Editor); Grover A. Zinn (Editor); John Bell Henneman (Editor); Lawrence Earp (Editor)
ISBN: 9780824044442
Publication Date: 1995-03-01
Essays by scholars with extensive references and a good index.
Encyclopedia of the Third Reich by Louis L. Snyder
Call Number: Reference DD256.5 .S57
ISBN: 9780070595255
Publication Date: 1976-03-01
Entries with some essays by scholars; includes a bibliography but no individual references.
Encyclopedia of Russian History
ISBN: 9780028656939
Publication Date: 2003-11-21
Entries cover from ancient events to the present; includes bibliographical references. Online via Gale Virtual Reference
Historical Dictionary of the Spanish Empire, 1402-1975 by James S. Olson (Editor); Virginia Garrard Burnett (Editor-In-Chief); Samuel Freeman (Editor-In-Chief); Fred Koestler (Editor-In-Chief); Ross Marlay (Editor-In-Chief); Sam L. Slick (Other Adaptation by)
Call Number: Reference DP56 .H57 1992
ISBN: 9780313264139
Publication Date: 1991-11-30
Essays with references by scholars; includes a chronology and bibliography.
Chinese History by Endymion Porter Wilkinson
Call Number: Reference DS735 .W695 2000
ISBN: 9780674002470
Publication Date: 2000-05-01
Detailed overview of research tools, both secondary and primary, with excellent indexes and references.

Biographical Sources

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
Covers British biographies from the earliest times to present, with references. 60 vols., index & suppls.
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Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
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American National Biography
ANB offers biographies for more than 19,000 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the American nation.