What are Reference Sources?
Libraries collect and preserve the graphic records of human experience.1 Not every experience is documented, and not every documented experience is collected and preserved. How, then, can you know what part of the historical record remains for you to study? Reference sources are your map to the graphic records of human experience.
Even if every human experience hasn't been documented, and every document hasn't been preserved, there remains a plethora of sources available for the historian to study. Here at the University of Illinois Library, you have access to over 14 million printed books, 9 million microforms, 120,000 periodicals, 148,000 sound recordings, 1 million audiovisual resources, 280,000 e-books, 29,000 cubic feet of archival records, 3 terabytes of electronic records, and 650,000 maps—that's over 24 million potential primary sources for your research. Reference sources are your map to the Library's collections.
Half of one aisle at the University Library's remote storage facility on Oak Street.
Use reference sources for factual information like the date the Defense of Marriage Act was signed into law, or where in the United States Statutes at Large to find it. You can also use them to find more complex information, like marriage law in Islam. They often include bibliographies, making them profitable places to begin a research project.
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias attempt to summarize the state of knowledge in a field of inquiry. A good encyclopedia can be a valuable starting point for your research.
Three useful digital collections of encyclopedias are:
- 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.
Specific encyclopedias for researching the history of the American family:
- Dictionary of American History byCall Number: 973 ONLINEISBN: 0684314150Publication Date: 20033rd ed. Online version of the standard, 10 volume reference work on American history--excellent place to begin.
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History byCall Number: 973 | 306 ONLINEISBN: 0199743363Publication Date: 2012Online version of 2 volume original. Signed entries with bibliographies. Some bibliographies annotated. Includes a "Topical Outline of Entries".
- Encyclopedia of American Social History byCall Number: 301.0973 EN19ISBN: 0684192462Publication Date: 19933 vols.
- The Social History of the American Family: An Encyclopedia byCall Number: 973 | 301 ONLINEISBN: 9781452286143Publication Date: 2014Online version of the 4 volume original.
- The Family in America: An Encyclopedia byCall Number: 306.85097303 H312fISBN: 1576072320Publication Date: 2001
- Growing Up: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia byCall Number: HQ767.84 .B76 1995ISBN: 0874367670Publication Date: 1995
- The Encyclopedia of Marriage, Divorce, and the Family byCall Number: 306.803 D547EISBN: 081601695XPublication Date: 1989
- Encyclopedia of Religion in America byCall Number: 299.7 ONLINEISBN: 9781608712571Publication Date: 2010Online version of the 4 volume original. Substantive, signed entries that include bibliographies. Bibliographies not annotated.
- New Catholic Encyclopedia byCall Number: 282 ONLINEPublication Date: 20022nd ed. Online version of the 15 volume original, with supplements. Substantive, signed entries with bibliographies and some illustrations. Bibliographies not annotated.
- Encyclopaedia Judaica byCall Number: 296 ONLINEPublication Date: 20062nd ed. Online version of the 22 volume original. Signed entries, with bibliographies, on almost all aspects of Jewish Studies. Bibliographies not annotated. "This award-winning second edition, an update to the 1972 Encyclopaedia Judaica, has already attained a secure place in the reference pantheon [...] While the first edition, published in Jerusalem, was criticized by a few scholars for an "Israel-centric" scholarly bias, the second edition was overseen by a joint editorial board composed of both Israeli and Diaspora scholars, who tried to provide more balanced coverage" (from the Choice review by D. Altschiller). However, the Academic Guide to Jewish History at the University of Toronto notes that the first 1972 edition contains more illustrations and may contain information not present in the updated edition.
- The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI2) byCall Number: 297 ONLINEPublication Date: 1954-20022nd ed. Online version of the 13 volume original. Signed, scholarly articles with bibliographies. Some bibliographic entries annotated. Many entries incorporate bibliographic essays into the body of the article.
- Encyclopedia of Marriage and the Family byCall Number: Q. 306.803 EH19ISBN: 002897235XPublication Date: 1995
Bibliographies and Guides to Primary Sources
The purpose of a bibliography is to list, as comprehensively as possible, all documents within a defined field of inquiry. To learn more about bibliographies, the role of bibliographies in historical research, and how to find bibliographies, consult the following guide:
- Bibliography and Historical ResearchA guide to finding and using bibliographies for historical research, with an emphasis on using bibliographies to find primary sources.
Below are some bibliographies for researching the history of the American family:
- A Bibliography of American Autobiographies byCall Number: 016.920073 K14BPublication Date: 1961Includes a subject index.
- American Autobiography, 1945-1980: A Bibliography byCall Number: 016.920073 AM35ISBN: 0299090906Publication Date: 1982Includes a subject index.
- Personal Accounts of Events, Travels, and Everyday Life in America: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.973 M216pISBN: 0912724390Publication Date: 1997
- Remembered Childhoods byCall Number: 016.92 L85rISBN: 9781591581741Publication Date: 2007Includes a subject index.
- The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.920073 G616PISBN: 0816187789Publication Date: 1987Includes a subject index.
- American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals byCall Number: Q. 016.920073 AR35AISBN: 0810318008Publication Date: 1983-19872 vols. Includes subject index (e.g. Mexican-American War) and geographical index (e.g. Cuba). The digital collection, North American Women's Letters and Diaries is based in part on this bibliography.
- Personal Writings by Women to 1900: A Bibliography of American and British Writers byCall Number: 016.82 ONLINEISBN: 0806122064Publication Date: 1989Includes a subject index. Online version of the 1 volume original.
- Through a Woman's I: An Annotated Bibliography of American Women's Autobiographical Writings, 1946-1976 byCall Number: 016.920720973 AD24TISBN: 0810815885Publication Date: 1983Includes a very general subject index.
- Women's Diaries, Journals, and Letters: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.92072 C615WISBN: 0824066375Publication Date: 1989Global coverage. Most works in English. Includes subject indexes.
- The Female Experience in Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century America: A Guide to the History of American Women byCall Number: 016.3054 C769FISBN: 0824099362Publication Date: 1982A mix of primary and secondary sourced. No subject index, but entries organized by broad subject.
- First Person Female American: A Selected and Annotated Bibliography of the Autobiographies of American Women Living after 1950 byCall Number: 016.30540973 F519ISBN: 0878751408Publication Date: 1980Includes a simple subject index.
- Women and the American Left: A Guide to Sources byCall Number: 016.30542 B867WISBN: 0816181950Publication Date: 1983Mixes primary and secondary sources. Includes a subject index.
- Women's Periodicals and Newspapers from the Eighteenth Century to 1981: A Union List of the Holdings of Madison, Wisconsin Libraries byCall Number: 016.305405 H117WISBN: 0816181071Publication Date: 1982Includes a subject index.
- Autobiographies by Americans of Color, 1980-1994: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.92073 ST94AISBN: 0878754660Publication Date: 1997Includes a subject index.
- Black Americans in Autobiography: An Annotated Bibliography of Autobiographies and Autobiographical Books Written since the Civil War byCall Number: 016.9209 B76B1984ISBN: 0822305593Publication Date: 1984Includes subject indexes.
- Bibliography of African American Family History at the Newberry Library byCall Number: 016.929108996 T325B2005ISBN: 0911028382Publication Date: 2005
- Asian American Autobiographers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook byCall Number: PS366.A74 A85 2001ISBN: 031331408XPublication Date: 2001
- Children's Periodicals of the United States byCall Number: 051.088054 C437ISBN: 0313221170Publication Date: 1984
- Women's Periodicals in the United States: Consumer Magazines (Historical Guides to the World's Periodicals and Newspapers) byCall Number: 081.082 W842ISBN: 0313286310Publication Date: 1995
- Women's Periodicals in the United States: Social and Political Issues (Historical Guides to the World's Periodicals and Newspapers) byCall Number: 051.082 W842ISBN: 0313286329Publication Date: 1996
- The American Settlement Movement: A Bibliography byCall Number: 016.362557 B234aISBN: 0313307563Publication Date: 1999Documents from the Settlement House Movement, of which Jane Addams's Hull House was probably the most famous.
- United States Government Documents on Women, 1800-1990: A Comprehensive Bibliography byCall Number: 016.3054 H878uISBN: 0313290164Publication Date: 1993Entries arranged by broad subject, with more detailed subject index at the end.
- Marriage on Trial: A Handbook With Cases, Laws, and Documents byCall Number: 346.73016 W179mISBN: 1851096108Publication Date: 2005
- Margaret Sanger and the Birth Control Movement: A Bibliography, 1911-1984 byCall Number: 016.30466 M783MISBN: 0810819031Publication Date: 1995Entries organized by year of publication. Includes a subject index.
- El-Hi Textbooks in PrintCall Number: A.371.32AM35ISBN: 0070-9565Publication Date: 1927-1980Annual listing of textbooks for use in American elementary schools and high schools.
- Directory of Historical Textbook and Curriculum Collections byCall Number: Q. 011.70973 D628ISBN: 083898357XPublication Date: 2005
- Early American Textbooks: A Catalog of Titles Held by the Educational Research Library byCall Number: S. 011.7 UN3EPublication Date: 1985
Bibliographies and Guides to Secondary Sources
Bibliographies of secondary sources tend to become dated more quickly than bibliographies of primary sources (see above). They remain useful, however, in providing a well-organized overview of a subject.
- An Annoted Bibliography of U.S. Scholarship on the History of the Family byCall Number: Q. 016.30685 B442AISBN: 0404616062Publication Date: 1986
- American Family History: A Historical Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30685 AM35ISBN: 0874363802Publication Date: 1984Includes a subject index.
- The Black Family in the United States: A Revised, Updated, Selectively Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30685 D294BISBN: 0313252378Publication Date: 1986
- Black American Families, 1965-1984: A Classified, Selectively Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.3068 B561ISBN: 0313256136Publication Date: 1986
- The Black Family and the Black Woman: A Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30142 K69B1978ISBN: 0405105231Publication Date: 1978
- Black Children and Their Families: A Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30142 D92BISBN: 0882473786Publication Date: 1976
- Women and Family in the Twentieth-Century American West: A Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30540978 D492WPublication Date: 1990
- The Black Aged in the United States: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.3052608996 D294B1989ISBN: 0313259313Publication Date: 1989Includes entries for primary sources and a subject index.
- The Rural Elderly: An Annotated Bibliography of Social Science Research byCall Number: 016.30526 K929RISBN: 0313235090Publication Date: 1983
- European American Elderly: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30526 G987EISBN: 0313255830Publication Date: 1987Includes a subject index.
- The Image of Older Adults in the Media: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.30526 N887IISBN: 0313280185Publication Date: 1992Includes a subject index.
- Folklore, Culture, and Aging: A Research Guide byCall Number: 016.30526 SH75FISBN: 0313298971Publication Date: 1997Includes a subject index.
- Same-Sex Marriage (Historical Guides to Controversial Issues in America) byCall Number: 306.848 ONLINEISBN: 0313335168Publication Date: 2006
- Social Welfare in America: An Annotated Bibliography byCall Number: 016.361973 SO13ISBN: 0313230021Publication Date: 1983Includes subject index. Mixes primary sources and secondary sources. For primary sources, see especially the Autobiographies, Documentaries, Classic Case Studies, and Textbooks, Readers, Books of Documents sub-sections in each section.
- The 1960s: An Annotated Bibliography of Social and Political Movements in the United States byCall Number: 016.303484 J137NISBN: 0313272557Publication Date: 1992Mixes primary and secondary sources. Includes subject index.
- Handbook of Marriage and the Family (1st ed.) byCall Number: 306.8 ONLINEISBN: 9781461571513Publication Date: 1987Focuses primarily on North America; includes historical contexts.
- Handbook of Marriage and the Family (2nd ed.) byCall Number: 306.8 ONLINEISBN: 9781475753677Publication Date: 1999
- Handbook of Marriage and the Family (3rd ed.) byCall Number: 306.8 ONLINEISBN: 9781461439875Publication Date: 2012
Notes
1. Jesse H. Shera, The Foundations of Education for Librarianship (New York: Becker and Hayes, 1972): 193.