What are reference sources?
Reference sources provide a broad or general introduction to a topic, and often provide links or "pointers" (e.g., bibliographies, references, authors) to other information sources. They are a great place to begin exploring your research topic, and may help you convert a very broad topic into a more focused, more specific research question. Specific reference sources include dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Reference Databases
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Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
Provides selected full text access to the Cambridge Histories reference series, including political, economic and social history, philosophy and literature of selected countries and subjects. Sample topics include: Social History of Britain, World History of Food, History of Political Thought, History of Latin America, History of Islam, History of Iran, Economic History of the United States. Some titles may not be available.
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Sage Knowledge This link opens in a new windowOver 100 online multi-volume reference works, primarily in the social sciences and education. Great starting point for authoritative overviews on thousands of topics.
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Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Offers fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, including Oxford Companions Series. Covers a wide range of fields and includes illustrations, maps, timelines, biographies, and links to authoritative websites.
Subject-Specific Reference Works
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Daily life of women : an encyclopedia from ancient times to the present
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Call Number: Full text onlineISBN: 9798400637520Publication Date: 2021Indispensable for the student or researcher studying women's history, this book draws upon a wide array of cultural settings and time periods in which women displayed agency by carrying out their daily economic, familial, artistic, and religious obligations. -
Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writers
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Call Number: D14 .E53 1999ISBN: 1884964338Publication Date: 1999-02-01The Encyclopedia of Historians and Historical Writing contains over 800 entries ranging from Lord Acton and Anna Comnena to Howard Zinn and from Herodotus to Simon Schama. Over 300 contributors from around the world have composed critical assessments of historians from the beginning of historical writing to the present day, including individuals from related disciplines like Jürgen Habermas and Clifford Geertz, whose theoretical contributions have informed historical debate.
