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Few disciplines are as well supported by auxiliary reference material as history. There are a host of bibliographies on virtually any era, movement, or major event, as well as regional and thematic encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, chronologies, catalogs of special collections, and guides to historical literature. Some of these sources are available online, but most exist only in print, and savvy researchers know that this wealth of reference material can save them vast amounts of time otherwise spent reinventing the wheel.
Among guides to the literature, a good starting point is the American Historical Association Guide to Historical Literature (edited by Mary Beth North), now in its 3rd edition (1995). There is a copy in the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library reference section and another copy in the Reference Library, under the call number 016.9 G941 1995
There are also hundreds of encyclopedias and dictionaries devoted to particular regions, time periods, and genres. These vary widely in degree of scholarly sophistication and completeness. The difference in quality from one encyclopedia to another can be very striking. The best way to become familiar with these resources is to browse the reference sections in the History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library and also in the main Reference Library (in the 300s, 900s, and 016s), and for online sources to browse some of the collections of reference works linked under “Online Reference Collection” at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/orr.
Here are a few examples of print reference works: |
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Harvard Guide to American History. By Frank B. Freidel. (1974) 016.973 H19h 1974 History and Philosophy Library, Reference Library, Illinois Historical Survey |
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Harvard Guide to African-American History. Edited by Leon Litwack and Darlene Clark Hine. (2001) 973.0496073 H261 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library, Undergraduate Library, Afro-Americana Library |
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Dictionary of American History. Edited by Stanley I. Kutler. (2003) 10 vols. 973.03 Ad1d 2003 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library, Reference Library, Undergraduate Library |
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A Companion to American Women’s History. Edited by Nancy A. Hewitt. (2002) 305.40973 C738 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library |
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Encyclopedia of American Social History. Edited by Mary Kupiec Cayton et al. 3 vols. (1993) Q.301.0973 En19 Reference Library, Undergraduate Library |
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Encyclopedia of the Great Depression. Edited by Robert S. McElvaine. 2 vols. (2004) Q.973.91603 En19 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library |
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Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Edited by Joseph R. Strayer. 13 vols. (New York, 1982-1989) 909.07 D561 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library Reference, Reference Library |
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Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. Edited by Paul Grendler. 6 vols. (New York, 1999). Q.940.2103 En19 Reference Library |
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Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000. Edited by Peter N. Stearns. 6 vols. (New York, 2001) Q.306.09403 En19 History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library Reference, Reference Library, Undergraduate Library Reference |
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There is a collection of biographical reference sources on microfiche, called “biographical archives” that is an essential resource for historians. The publisher, K.G. Saur Verlag, microfilmed thousands of biographical encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other sources, then rearranged the entries into about 50 separate sets or “archives,” each dedicated to a particular country, region or ethnic group. Within each of the sets, the individual entries are presented in a single alphabet. The UIUC Library has about 35 of the sets, located in the Reference Library, including the British Biographical Archive, the Archives biographiques françaises, the Jüdisches biographisches Archiv, etc. The German Biographical Archive (Deutsches Biographisches Archiv), series I, for example, incorporates 264 sources published between 1707 and 1913 and contains approximately 480,000 articles or entries for 213,000 individuals. There are seven entries for the sixteenth-century German theologian, Simon Pauli, reproduced from seven different biographical encyclopedias, assembled together under his name.
Under the “Online Reference Collection,” you will find the American National Biography, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, the Columbia Gazetteer, and the World of Learning (for contact information for academic and research institutions in other countries). We also subscribe to Oxford Reference Online, which includes |
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Oxford Companion to British History |
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Oxford Companion to Military History |
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Oxford Companion to United States History |
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Oxford Companion to World War II |
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Oxford Companion to American Military History |
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Dictionary of British History |
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Kings and Queens of Britain |
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Oxford Dictionary of Islam |
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Oxford Companion to Philosophy |
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Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy |
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Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |
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Oxford Guide to United States Supreme Court Decisions |
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Dictionary of Political Biography |
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Oxford Dictionary of Quotations |
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French, German, Spanish, Italian, Latin and Irish bilingual dictionaries |
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| and to another online package called xreferplus, which includes |
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Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage (2000) |
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Encyclopedia of North American Indians (1996) |
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Companion to British History (2001) |
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Encyclopaedia of the Renaissance (1988) |
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Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian Renaissance (1985) |
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Collins dictionaries of Latin, Spanish, German, French, and Portuguese |
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