Research Guides
Reference works such as encyclopedias, research guides, and bibliographies are an excellent way to find background information and to get an overview of the current scholarship about a topic. (Because of this, they can also help you identify dominant historical narratives.)
Annotated bibliographies can save you from endless hours of searching: they offer a curated selection of recent or important scholarship on a topic.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new windowAnnotated bibliographies on 50+ topical areas. Entries include introductory essays and overviews of historiography (for historical topics). Browse by subject or search the entire database with keywords.
Reader's Guide to the History of Science by Publication Date: 2000The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.
Library research guides, created by subject specialists at the U of I Library, can help you locate primary and secondary sources for your research project:
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
You are using an encyclopedia every time your Google search takes you to a Wikipedia article. Wikipedia is an online, crowdsourced encyclopedia.
Encyclopedia entries summarize the established state of knowledge in a field of inquiry. An encyclopedia entry can be a useful digest of the secondary sources on a topic, but rarely reflects the most recent developments in scholarship. Wikipedia is updated much more frequently than traditional encyclopedias, but still follows the model of trying to present the current, established scholarly opinion on a topic, rather than new research or new approaches.
Four online reference collections (dictionaries and encyclopedias) that you may find useful are:
- Oxford African American Studies CenterMajor reference works, along with supplementary primary source material.
- Gale EbooksA very extensive collection of useful reference works published by Gale and affiliated publishers, including general and subject-specific encyclopedias. Gale is a major publisher of encyclopedias and other reference sources.
- Oxford Reference150 core reference works from Oxford University Press, mostly encyclopedias and dictionaries.
- Credo ReferenceLarge collection of encyclopedias and dictionaries. It includes some important reference works in History, Philosophy, Religious Studies, and related fields. Works tend to feature shorter entries, with exceptions.
Additional encyclopedias that would be specifically relevant for research in this course:
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism by ISBN: 9780028661742Publication Date: 20132nd ed. Online version of the 4 volume original. Signed entries with bibliographies. Bibliographies accompanying the entries are not annotated. Includes a "Thematic Outline" that arranges the entries by broad topic, an annotated bibliography at the end, an annotated filmography at the end, a selection of primary sources, and a subject index.
Encyclopedia of the History of Psychological Theories by Publication Date: 2014Provides a picture of psychology as it has emerged into the present time and positions it among other related fields such as anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and medicine.
Encyclopedia Public Health by Publication Date: 2003
Historical and Multicultural Encyclopedia of Women's Reproductive Rights in the United States by Publication Date: 2002Arranged alphabetically by topic, articles representing racial and ethnic groups' experiences figure prominently, as do the effects of age, class, education, health, religion, and sexual preference on childbearing and -rearing practices, in and out of wedlock. It also includes articles on laws, court cases, political attitudes, prominent activists, and technological advances as they relate to reproductive rights. Entries are written by highly regarded scholars, are cross-referenced, and conclude with suggested further readings.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology by Publication Date: 2014The entries in this encyclopedia explore the changing character of science, medicine, and technology in the United States; the key individuals, institutions, and organizations responsible for major developments; and the concepts, practices, and processes underlying these changes.
Biographical Information
Indexes to Biography
These databases identify biographical information published in periodicals, books, and encyclopedias.
- Biography and Genealogy Master IndexIdentifies biographical entries in hundreds of reference sources, many available only in print. Especially useful for locating biographical information on obscure individuals, or people not well represented in the major biographical reference works.
- Biography Index Retrospective1946-1983. Identifies biographical entries, articles, book-length biographies, and interviews, both historical and contemporary.
Encyclopedias of Biographical Information
Like the encyclopedias described above, these encyclopedias summarize what is known about a person, in shorter, article-length entries.
- Biography in ContextFull text collection of over 300,000 biographies, from throughout history, and across the globe.
- American National BiographyStandard reference work for American biography. This is the online version of the 24 volume original plus updates. Biographies of men and women, deceased at least five years, who made especially important contributions to American history and culture. Only includes deceased Americans deemed historically significant by editorial board.
- African American National Biography in Oxford African American Studies CenterOnline version of the 8 volume original. Part of the Oxford African American Studies Center. The standard reference work for biographical information on over 4,000 African Americans who have made especially important contributions to African American history and culture.
- American Biographical ArchiveBiographical entries from 626 reference works (in 933 volumes), originally published between 1702 and 1998, containing often-difficult-to-locate biographical information. Part of the World Biographical Information System.
- The Scribner Encyclopedia of American LivesOnline version of the 8 volume original plus supplements.
- Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives: The 1960sOnline version of the 2 volume original.
- African American Women: A Biographical Dictionary byCall Number: 920.72 AF83ISBN: 0824097823Publication Date: 1993
- Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Americans byCall Number: 920.009268 M575b 2001ISBN: 0816043302Publication Date: 2001
- Black Biographical Dictionaries, 1790-1950 byCall Number: Q. 920.009296073 B5614ISBN: 0898870852Publication Date: 1987Indexes over 40,000 articles from about 300 biographical dictionaries. Supports browsing by religion.
- Black Biography, 1790-1950 : a Cumulative Index byISBN: 08988708523 vols. Index of biographies published in books and magazines, and can also be used with the microfiche collection, Black Biographical Dictionaries, 1790-1950.
- Black Women in America byCall Number: 305.48896073 ONLINEISBN: 9780195156775Publication Date: 20052nd ed. Online version of the 3 volume original.
- Contemporary Black BiographyCall Number: Q. 920.009296 C767ISBN: 1058-1316Publication Date: 1992-Covers primarily living persons and Americans, though some deceased and some non-Americans also included. Articles from this series are available online in Biography in Context.
- Hispanic American Biography byCall Number: 920.009268 H6251ISBN: 0810398281Publication Date: 19952 vols.
- Icons of Black America: Breaking Barriers and Crossing Boundaries byCall Number: 920.009296073 Ic7ISBN: 9780313376429Publication Date: 20113 vols. Includes essays on organizations as well.
- Notable Black American Women byCall Number: Q. 920.7208996 N843ISBN: 0787664944Publication Date: 1992-20033 vols. Covers all periods up to 2000.
- Notable Latino Americans: A Biographical Dictionary byCall Number: 920.009268 M475NISBN: 0313291055Publication Date: 1997
- Who’s Who Among African Americans byCall Number: Q. 920.073 W62171Publication Date: 1996-Emphasis on contemporary black Americans. Some volumes available online.
Statistics
For help finding statistics and other kinds of data, contact Carissa Phillips in the Scholarly Commons. Below are some standard reference sources for locating statistics.
- Black Americans : a Statistical SourcebookCall Number: 305.896073 B5622ISBN: 10486992Publication Date: 20091990-present.
- Historical Statistics of Black America byCall Number: Q. 973.0496073 H6293ISBN: 0810385422Publication Date: 19952 vols.
- Statistical Record of Black America byCall Number: Q. 305.896073 ST291995ISBN: 0810384191Publication Date: 19951990-1995.
- Statistical Record of Hispanic Americans byCall Number: Q. 305.8680021 St291995ISBN: 0810364220Publication Date: 1995
- Hispanic Americans: A Statistical Sourcebook byCall Number: 305.8680021 H629ISBN: 1056-7992Publication Date: 1992-Published annually, 1992-present.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States byCall Number: 317 Un3sISBN: 0081-4741Publication Date: 1878-2012Annual digest of statistics, drawn from the census and other sources. Most volumes have been digitized. Published every year from 1878 to 2012. Continued by: ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States.
- ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States byCall Number: 317 Un3s1Publication Date: 2013-Continues the Statistical Abstract of the United States.
- Sage Data (formerly Data Planet)1948-present. Statistical data produced by governmental agencies, private organizations, and major intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Emphasis on the United States, with some international coverage.
- Historical Statistics of the United States, Earliest Times to the PresentCompiled from the U.S. Decennial Census returns, and other published sources. Includes excellent, explanatory essays by expert demographers. Also includes a detailed subject index.
- ProQuest Statistical InsightAccess to over 5,000 annual statistical publications of the United States Federal Government, with coverage back to 1973; over 2,200 annual statistical publications of American states and businesses; and over 2,500 annual statistical publications from International governmental and non-governmental organizations, like the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and more.
- Social ExplorerData on over 20,000 socio-economic indicators from 1790-present. Capable of using these statistical data to generate custom, interactive maps. Data drawn from the United States Census, 1790 to 2010; the American Community Survey, 2005 to 2012; the Religious Congregations and Membership Study, 1980 to 2010 (the most complete census available on religion in the US); and InfoGroup data on religious congregations in the US for 2009 and 2010.
- United States Census of Population and Housing, 1790-PresentCompiled statistics derived from the Decennial Census long forms and short forms.