Course Guide
Using Subject Encyclopedias
Subject encyclopedias are a good starting point for researching a topic. The library provides access to hundreds of print and online encyclopedias. The articles in a subject encyclopedia are usually written by a scholar or expert in the field. Using subject encyclopedias at the beginning of your research can help you to define key terms to use in searching the library catalog and databases. Often these resources will include a list of references (books or journal articles) that you can use to identify other sources on your topic.
Gathering Background Information
Use the background sources here, as well as other sources you might encounter, to gather information about your topic and consider what you still need to know before you start researching. You can use this information in searching for primary sources.
- Dates - Places - Names of persons involved - Names of organizations, government agencies, etc. - Names of particular laws or events
Background sources can also help you understand the larger historical context, so that you can determine what primary sources might be most useful or how a particular primary source fits into what was happening at that time.
Reference Sources
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
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Oxford Bibliographies Online: Atlantic History This link opens in a new windowAuthoritative, scholar-developed lists of resources on Atlantic History, which focuses on the movement of peoples, ideas and things in the Atlantic world. Atlantic History encompasses four continents and many islands in the period between Columbus’ voyages to the New World in the late fifteenth century and the end of slavery in the Americas in the late nineteenth century.
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Oxford Bibliographies Online: African Studies This link opens in a new windowOxford Bibliographies are authoritative, scholar-developed research guides covering a variety of subject areas. They combine features of an annotated bibliography and a subject encyclopedia, guiding researchers to the best available scholarship on the topic.
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Oxford Bibliographies Online: Latin American Studies This link opens in a new windowOxford Bibliographies Online are authoritative, scholar-developed research guides covering a variety of subject areas. They combine features of an annotated bibliography and a subject encyclopedia, guiding researchers to the best available scholarship on the topic.
SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIAS
Collections
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Oxford Handbooks Online: History This link opens in a new windowOnline access to the Oxford Handbooks series in History. Each handbook takes an aspect of its discipline, explains the key issues, the classic and contemporary debates on those issues, and describes how those debates might evolve. The handbooks offer authoritative and trustworthy guides to the scholarship that defines the field.
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Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowSearch across hundreds of subject encyclopedias and other reference works. A great place to find background information on almost any research topic. Includes a topic finder for help with narrowing or broadening your research topic. Coverage: varies
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Cambridge Histories This link opens in a new windowTopically focused collections of essays that seek to provide comprehensive analysis of major events, peoples, and ideas in world history.
Selected Titles
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Encyclopedia of the Atlantic World, 1400-1900: Europe, Africa, and the Americas in an Age of Exploration, Trade, and Empires [2 Volumes]
Call Number: ONLINEISBN: 9781610692564 -
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STATISTICS
When looking for statistics, think about who would be have been interested in gathering that data at that time period. Governments are often a good starting point, but religious organizations or non-governmental organizations might also have been involved in gathering data.
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Social Explorer This link opens in a new windowSocial Explorer allows users to visually explore demographic information, from census and economic data to election and religion data. The site includes data from the entire US Census from 1790 to 2010, all annual updates from the American Community Survey to 2008, and other data sets.
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Statistical Abstracts of the WorldThe date coverage for countries in this source varies, so for historical statistics you may need to utilize other sources, some of which are listed under the Primary Sources tab.