Reference Sources - HIST 200 - The Great War / Schneider, Joanne - James P. Adams Library at James P. Adams Library

Guides to Reference Sources

Sources of Information for Historical Research by Thomas P. Slavens
Call Number: Ref D20 .S5 1994
ISBN: 1555700934
Publication Date: 1994-01-01
This reference work is designed to help students, researchers, and librarians retrieve historical information. The organisation of the book is geographic, by genre, and by type of holding. All the works listed (mostly in English) are annotated and arranged by LC classification.
Reference Sources in History by Ronald H. Fritze; Brian E. Coutts; Louis A. Vyhnanek
Call Number: Ref D20 .F72 2004
ISBN: 0874368839
Publication Date: 2004-03-09
Fully annotated and completely updated--the most comprehensive guide to reference books in the field of history. * This guide includes 900+ complete entries for reference works and provides complete bibliographic information for over 400 other works * Descriptive annotations provide guidance to quality reference materials and offer a useful and time-saving alternative to research using the Internet * Topical chapters and detailed index help readers locate the materials they need for research and allow for effective searches of more obscure topics * The guide includes materials of interest for undergraduates, graduate students, academic researchers, and educated general readers
United States History by Anna H. Perrault; Ron Blazek
Call Number: Ref E178 .P45 2003
ISBN: 1563088746
Publication Date: 2003-04-30
This important work has been completely revised and expanded with the addition of online databases & web sites. It identifies and describes hundreds of reference books that pertain to American history. Entries offer full descriptive, and in some cases, evaluative annotations. Arranged topically, entries include works published through 2002.

Electronic Reference Sources

Published by Oxford University Press, this compilation of over 350 reference works includes dictionaries, handbooks, and short encyclopedias in many areas of the humanities & social sciences, including history. Note that items vary in length from short dictionary definitions to 3000 word essays. Longer entries will often include a bibliography of selected references for further reading on a subject.

For example, Oxford Reference Online includes The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History: a two volume work covering historical topics from a societal point of view. Searching this source using "World War I" as a keyword phrase brings up a general article on the social impact of World War I on the United States, but also includes articles giving background and details on WWI-related topics from the general to the very specific, for example: "Home Front", "Daughters of the American Revolution" (and their war work), "German-Americans", "Aliens during Wartime", or "Universal Negro Improvement Association."

To gain a quick chronological overview of the war that will also link you to more extensive discussions and often to selected further readings as well, use the Historical Timelines feature in the left-hand frame. Take a look at the Timeline : First World War.

CREDO Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference provides an online reference collection of over 617 reference books. This collection includes various dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as a broad range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art geography and law to technology.
American National Biography This link opens in a new window
American National Biography offers portraits of men & women from all eras and walks of life whose lives have shaped the nation. Published in 24 volumes in 1999, the ANB is updated semi-annually online, with hundreds of new entries each year and revisions of previously published entries to enhance their accuracy and currency. The ANB Online features thousands of illustrations, hyperlinked cross-references, links to select web sites, and powerful search capabilities.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window
The Oxford DNB is a collection of over 56,000 specially written biographies of men and women who have shaped all aspects of the British past. Updated three time per year with new material published every January, May and October. LIMITED TO 1 USER AT A TIME.

Citing Sources

The editors of The Chicago Manual of Style provide a website to support use of their style guide. Although the actual text of the manual online can be seen only by subscribers, a Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide on constructing some of the most often used types of citations is provided for free.

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab [OWL] makes a more detailed guide to Chicago style available on their website.

Since the Rhode Island College History Department uses the Chicago bibliographic citation style in a modified way, the final arbiter of correct usage is your professor.

The Chicago Manual of Style was not created to support the needs of historians specifically. And so, though it is hundreds of pages long, there are still some unusual items, especially primary sources, which Chicago may not address thoroughly or at all. Consider consulting Evidence explained : citing history sources from artifacts to cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills in the Adams Library Reference Collection: Ref D5 .M55 2007 for examples of sources such as cemetery records, voter rolls, deeds, etc.