Research Guides: American History: Background Research

Using Reference Resources

Reference books like dictionaries and encyclopedias are great ways to get background information on your topic.

Use biographical resources to get information about people in history.

You will need to cite information you learn from reference works, just as you would from books and articles. Citation information is usually at the bottom of the screen if you are using an online reference source.

Online biographical sources

Biography Resource Center This link opens in a new window Find biographies and articles on more than 335,000 people.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online This link opens in a new window 56,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to present.
Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window The LRC is a select compilation of the literary criticism series published by Gale. Find biographical and critical information about writers and literary and dramatic works.

Biographical Resources

Dictionary of American Biography
Call Number: Ref. E176 .D562 1928 - 1995
Notable American Women 1607-1950 : a Biographical Dictionary
Call Number: Ref. CT3260.N57 1971
Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century
Call Number: Ref. CT3260.N573 1980
ISBN: 067401488X
The Scribner Encyclopedia of American lives by Jackson
Call Number: Ref. E176 .S37
ISBN: 0684804921
Women in World History : a Biographical Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. HQ1115.W6 1999
ISBN: 078763736X
Current Biography by Ref CT100 .C8
Current Biography magazine draws information from newspaper and magazine articles, books, the Internet, and occasionally personal interviews or questionnaires completed by the subjects
American National Biography
Call Number: Ref. E176 .A68 1999
ISBN: 0195206355

Online reference resources

Oxford Reference: History A collection of subject-specific books and encyclopedias
Encyclopedia Virginia Encylopedia Virginia publishes topical and biographical entries written by scholars documenting the history and culture of Virginia.
American Bibliography
A chronological dictionary of all books, pamphlets, and periodical publications printed in the United States of America from 1639-1820

Reference Books in Grafton

Encyclopedia of American Social History by Cayton, Mary Kupiec, Elliott J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams, eds.
Call Number: Ref. HN 57 .E58 1993
ISBN: 0684192462
Encyclopedia of women in American history
Call Number: Ref. HQ1410 .E53 2002
ISBN: 0765680386
Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and History
Call Number: Ref. E185 .E54 1996
ISBN: 0028973453
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War
Call Number: Ref. E468 .E53 2000
ISBN: 1576070662
Historical Statistics of the United States
Call Number: Ref. HA202 .H57 2006
ISBN: 0521817919
Dictionary of American History
Call Number: Ref. E 174.A43
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Nineteenth Century
Call Number: Ref. E169.1 .E626 2001
Encyclopedia of the United States in the Twentieth Century
Call Number: Ref. E740.7 .E53 1996

Periodical indexes

Poole's Index to Periodical Literature
Indexes American periodical literature written from 1806 to 1902. Located in the Periodicals Room
Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
Indexes popular magazines. We have indexes from 1900-1994. Located in the Periodicals Room.