Research Guides: History, U.S. & Canada *: Encyclopedias & Background Sources

Online Reference Sources - Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Handbooks

Reference sources are extremely useful for providing authoritative overviews and background information on a topic. They will give you the terminology and the key names, dates and concepts that can be used when conducting online searches for scholarly articles, books, as well as for searching for primary sources and historical newspapers. Many reference sources also provide extensive bibliographies that list the important and influential scholarship on a given topic.

USC Libraries has several online collections of Reference books (all require login):

America: History & Life with Full Text This link opens in a new window
CLIO Notes - Within AHL, click on the Clio Notes tab at the upper lefthand corner of the screen to access chronologies and background information on major periods of U.S. history. Links to articles on various topics are also provided.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference is a digital reference library that places a world of factual information at your fingertips. Containing a selection from 645 high-quality reference books from the world's leading publishers, Credo Reference is the ideal place to start any research.
Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window
Includes introductory essays with selective lists of the most authoritative and significant research on a subject. The introductory essays are written by experts and present theoretical and historical background, along with the scholarly context for the citations included in the bibliographies. Each subject area is overseen by an editorial board and peer reviewers.
Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource guides researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.
Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
USC provides access to Business and Management, Classics, Economics and Finance, History, Linguistics, Music, Political Science and Psychology collections.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Includes many specialized reference books. Here's a sampling:
• American Decades and American Decades Primary Sources (2001; 2004)
• Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America (2004)
• Gale Library of Daily Life: Slavery and America (2008)

Biographies

Login required

American National Biography Online This link opens in a new window
The landmark American National Biography offers portraits of more than 17,400 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation.
More than a decade in preparation, the American National Biography is the first biographical resource of this scope to be published in more than sixty years.
Biography In Context This link opens in a new window
This database provides biographical information for over 500,000 people.
Search for current or historic figures based on name, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates or places, or occupation, as well as by broad subject categories (e.g., the Obama administration, criminals, inventors, etc.), keyword and full text. A sidebar on the home page includes current articles on prominent individuals. Searches can be limited to full-text and/or peer-reviewed articles.Results may include images, video, audio, podcasts, websites.Content comes from over 170 Gale reference works, as well as full-text articles from over 325 newspapers and journals. See Resources for video tutorials and other tips.

Print Reference Sources

USC has hundreds of reference books, most of which are located in Doheny Library's Los Angeles Times Reference Room.

Here is a sampling:

Africana : The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience
Call Number: DT14.A37435 1999 (Doheny Bookstacks)
The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature
Call Number: Z6201.A55 1995 (Grand Depository)
Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual History
Call Number: E169.1.E624 2001 (Doheny Reference)
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century
Call Number: E169.1.E626 2001 (Doheny Reference)
The Greenwood Guide to American Popular Culture
Call Number: E169.1 .H2643 2002 (Doheny Bookstacks)
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States
Call Number: E184.S75 O97 2005 (Doheny BOECKMANN REFERENCE DML 233)
United States History : A Multicultural, Interdisciplinary Guide to Information Sources
Call Number: Z1236 .P45 2003 (Doheny Reference)
ISBN: 1563088746

Finding Reference Sources

There are several ways to search for reference/background sources on your topic:

1) In the USC Libraries main search box, conduct a keyword search that includes the type of resource you're looking for:

native americans and bibliography

OR
slavery and encyclopedia

In the results page, select the Location: "Reference".

2) Another option is to search Reference Universe, an online tool that allows you to search for both print and online reference collections.

3) Go to the LA Times Reference Room in Doheny Memorial Library and browse the shelves.