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 windowCLIO 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.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes 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.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowUSC 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 windowIncludes 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 windowThe 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.
- Biography In Context This link opens in a new windowThis database provides biographical information for over 500,000 people.
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 ExperienceCall Number: DT14.A37435 1999 (Doheny Bookstacks)
The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical LiteratureCall Number: Z6201.A55 1995 (Grand Depository)
Encyclopedia of American Cultural and Intellectual HistoryCall Number: E169.1.E624 2001 (Doheny Reference)
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth CenturyCall Number: E169.1.E626 2001 (Doheny Reference)
The Greenwood Guide to American Popular CultureCall Number: E169.1 .H2643 2002 (Doheny Bookstacks)
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United StatesCall Number: E184.S75 O97 2005 (Doheny BOECKMANN REFERENCE DML 233)
United States History : A Multicultural, Interdisciplinary Guide to Information SourcesCall 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.