Macdonald-Kelce Library: History: Background Information: Reference Works

Specialized Information

Sometimes you need a definition, or statistic, or basic fact for you paper that you can't find in a scholarly article. What can make this doubly frustrating is that sometimes you can find the fact in Wikipedia, but you cannot use Wikipedia in your paper.

You can find specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries in:

Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Offers the complete Encyclopedia Britannica online as well as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Comprises a wide variety of ebooks on topics such as the arts, education, law, medicine, and religion.
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Access all Oxford's dictionaries, companions, and encyclopedias in one place.
Oxford Reference is a multi-disciplinary database that features a range of short entries, timelines, quotations, and lengthy in-depth reference articles on all topics. Browse by subject or enter a keyword in the search box.

Contact a librarian if you're not finding the information you're looking for.

Reference Books

The Reference section is located on the first floor of the library. Reference works are a good place to begin your research, focus a topic, and pick up on significant people, events, themes, aspects, and terminology. Typically these are not the sources you will cite but are ideal in gathering background information, breaking a large topic down, and identifying keywords to use in database searches.

Below is a sampling of the kinds of reference works you might draw upon for your research.

American Revolution by Spencer Tucker; James R. Arnold; Roberta Wiener; Paul G. Pierpaoli; Paul David Nelson; Jim Piecuch
Call Number: E208 .A44 2018, REFERENCE
ISBN: 9781851097395
Publication Date: 2018-09-14
With more than 1,300 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of the American Revolution, this definitive scholarly reference covers the causes, course, and consequences of the war and the political, social, and military origins of the nation.
The Cambridge History of the American Civil War by Aaron Sheehan-Dean (Editor)
Call Number: E468 .C235 2019, REFERENCE
ISBN: 9781107154582
Publication Date: 2019-10-31
The Cambridge History of the American Civil War provides the most comprehensive analysis to date of the American Civil War. With contributions from over seventy-five leading historians of the Civil War, the three-volume reference work investigates the full range of human experiences and outcomes in this most transformative moment in American and global history.
Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures by Helaine Selin (Editor)
Call Number: Q124.8 .E53 2016, REFERENCE
ISBN: 9789400777460
Publication Date: 2016-03-17
This updated and augmented third edition of this landmark encyclopedia contains approximately 1000 entries dealing in depth with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe.
Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya by Walter R. T. Witschey
Call Number: F1435 .E65 2016, REFERENCE
ISBN: 9780759122840
Publication Date: 2015-12-24
Encyclopedia of the Ancient Maya offers an A-to-Z overview of the ancient Maya culture from its inception around 3000 BC to the Spanish Conquest after AD 1600.
A State-By-State History of Race and Racism in the United States [2 Volumes] by Patricia Reid-Merritt (Editor)
Call Number: E185.61 .S7937 2019, REFERENCE
ISBN: 9781440856006
Publication Date: 2018-12-07
Providing chronologies of important events, historical narratives from the first settlement to the present, and biographies of major figures, this work offers readers an unseen look at the history of racism from the perspective of individual states.