In-Depth Research Guide: History
Librarians for History
Laura Reiner, Research & Instruction, x2108
Graham Henderson, Collections, x3514
Contents
- Getting started
- Find articles & essays
- Find primary sources
- Find books
- Find background information
- Key websites
Scope
This guide focuses on general resources for history. For additional resources on specific regions, see also:
Course guides
- HIST 224: Zionism & Irish Nationalism
- HIST 240: Cities in Modern Europe
- HIST 292: Civil War & Reconstruction
- HIST 297: Europe since 1945
- HIST 301: Women of Russia
- HIST 316: Native American History
- HIST 317: American Manhood
- HIST 367: Jewish Identity in the Modern World
Related subject guides
- Primary sources
- Biographies
- News - including historical newspapers
Offcampus Access · Databases A-Z · Research Guides by Subject | by Course · Reference Books Online · Library Catalog
| Getting started |
Reading, Writing, and Researching for History: A Guide for College Students by Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College
| Find articles & essays |
- America History and Life
- U.S. & Canadian history articles, prehistory to present, written from 1964 to present.
Historical Abstracts- Articles on world history from 1450, excluding US & Canada, written since 1954. Can be co-searched with America: History & Life
Facts on File World News Digest- News digests written contemporary to the time, as well as full-text historical documents, election results, and selected editorials, 1940 to present.
| Find primary sources |
Primary sources are original, uninterpreted information, such as firsthand accounts of events in letters, diaries, interviews, or historical news reportage; original works of fiction, art, or music; research reports or data; testimony, speeches, etc.
See our Primary Sources guide to the major online collections of primary sources, arranged by time period.
More material can be found in the Key scholarly websites section of this guide.
| Find books |
tip: in the library catalog, use a subject search: [country] + history to find all the books on that general topic, then scroll down to a specific time period. For example:
tip: use the same search techniques in WorldCat to find books and videos we don't own, and request them through Interlibrary Loan by clicking on the title of the item you want, then clicking on the 
button in the full record of the item.
| Find background information |
tip: for more specific encyclopedias, search the catalog and change the limit from "View Entire Collection" to "Reference"
General
Guide to Historical Literature (American Historical Association) - Clapp Reference Z6201 .A55 1995
excellent starting place for any topic
Dictionary of Contemporary World History: From 1900 to the Present Day
Dictionary of World History
Encyclopedia of World Facts and Dates - Clapp Reference CB69 .C37 1993
Illustrated History of the World - Clapp Reference D20 .R655 1999
Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia - Clapp Reference HQ 1115 .W6 1999
Oxford Companion to Military History
Africa / Middle East
Civilizations of the Ancient Near East - Clapp Reference DS57.C55 1995
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East - Clapp Reference DS43 .E53 1996
A History of the Middle East - Clapp Reference DS62.4 .M36 1991
The History Atlas of Africa - Clapp Reference G2446 .S1 K3 1998
Asia
Encyclopedia of Asian History - Clapp Reference DS31 .E53 1988
Oxford Companion to Australian History
Europe
Dictionary of the Middle Ages - Clapp Reference D114 .D5 1982
Medieval France an Encyclopedia - Clapp Reference DC33.2 .M44 1995
Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England - Clapp Reference DA152 .B58 1999
Medieval England - Clapp Reference DA129 .M43 1998
The Renaissance: An EncyclopediaEncyclopedia of the Victorian World - Clapp Reference DA550 .E53 1996
Dictionary of British History
Oxford Companion to British History
Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland - Clapp Reference DA772 .C618 1994
Oxford Companion to Irish History - Clapp Reference DA910 .O935 1998
Encyclopedia of Ireland - Clapp Reference DA906 .E53 2000
Encyclopedia of Eastern Europe - Clapp Reference DJK 6 .E53 2000
Encyclopedia of Russian History
Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History - Clapp Reference DK14 .M6
Religious History (transcending region)
Encyclopedia Judaica
Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Encyclopedia of Islam & the Muslim World
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World - Clapp Reference DS35.53 .O95 1995
Latin America
Encyclopedia of Latin America History and Culture - Clapp Reference F1406 .E53 1996
North America
Dictionary of American History
Oxford Companion to United States History
Oxford Companion to American Military History
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture & History
American Decades - Clapp Reference E169.12 .A419 1994
An American Primer - Clapp Reference E 173 .B7
Documents of American History - Clapp Reference E 173 .D59
Reader's Guide to American History - Clapp Reference E178.1 .R43 1997
Oxford Companion to Canadian History
Canadian Encyclopedia
Native AmericanChronology of Native North American History - Clapp Reference E77 .C555 1994
Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes - Clapp Reference E77 .G15 1998
Handbook of North American Indians (Smithsonian) - Clapp Reference E77 .H25
| Key scholarly websites |
see also the Primary Sources research guide for key websites.
General
- Best of History Web Sites
- This megasite created by Thomas Daccord, history teacher at Noble and Greenough School, is organized by topical categories.
H-Net- An online, international interdisciplinary community of scholars and teachers in the humanities and social sciences. See the discussion networks and reviews especially.
Europe
- EuroDocs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe - Brigham Young University
- Links to primary sources about key historical happenings from countries in Western Europe.
North America
- American Civil War Homepage
- A collection of links to documents and other materials pertaining to the Civil War.
Avalon Project - Yale Law School- Primary sources from the pre-18th through 20th centuries for history as well as law and diplomacy.
History Channel: Speeches & Audio- Audio file of speeches (requires Real Player), searchable by subject or speaker, with a summary of each speech.
History Guide- An Internet-based subject gateway to scholarly information in history
HistoryWired: A few of our favorite things- Think of this as a walk through the storage area of the National Museum of American History. The website can be browsed or searched.
The Jewish History Resource Center - Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History- More than 6,000 links to information on Jewish history.
Labyrinth- Georgetown University- A good source for medieval studies on the web.
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Nineteenth Century Documents Project - Lloyd Benson, Furman University - Transcribed primary texts focusing on the causes, events and debates leading up to the United States Civil War; especially strong in the areas of abolitionism, sectionalism and secession.
Women Working, 1800-1930 - Harvard University Library- Primary source material of women working in the late 18th-early 19th century, including books, pamphlets, images and some manuscripts.
Wellesley College Library • WCIS • Laura Reiner • last modified: March 10, 2009