LibGuides: History Courses & Research: Encyclopedias

HIstorical research for history majors: Reference sources

Getting started for history majors

Upgrade your skills

Upgrade from merely skimming encyclopedias for ideas or only mining the recommended reading list--historians analyze encyclopedia articles closely to understand the context of their topic and identify where a topic is either explored or unexplored (which one you choose depends on your goals).

Mining Encyclopedia Entries Transcript

Notice different types of encyclopedias

Start noticing the different types of encyclopedias available to historians. There are more types than general, such as Encyclopedia Britannica (which is still useful); if you search Credo Reference, you'll see all types show up in the results, and you'll need to know what you're seeing.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Full-text of over 1,000 reference works (encyclopedias, dictionaries, etc).

Examples of different types:

Below are linked a few different kinds of encyclopedias--read the descriptions to understand the purpose.

The Greenwood encyclopedia of daily life : a tour through history from ancient times to the present
Call Number: Reference 390 G859
Organized by time period and then geographic region, itiIncludes summaries of eating, clothing, holidays, and more, plus reprinted primary sources
Historical statistics of the United States : earliest times to the present
Call Number: 1st floor 317.3 H629
When you need statistics about a variety of aspects of a culture throughout history--look for this type of book
Encyclopedia of American Historical Documents
Call Number: Ref. 973 En194, 2004
When a source uses "Documents" in the title, it's a clue that it is a collection of primary sources.
Reader's Guide to British History
Call Number: Reference 941 R227
Each article will summarize the scholarship published over the years on a topic--and summarize the changing scholarly attitudes over time.