Reference works contain brief introductions, backgrounds, overviews, definitions, facts, statistics, or similar, and they may highlight some of the most important articles/books out there for further reading. Use these tools to get up to speed and jump-start your further research.
Some of these are accessed online, while others are available in the Reference area on the 1st floor at Murphy Library.
The items on this page are recommended based on the research topics selected in this class.
River Marsh/Nature/Environment
Encyclopedia of American environmental history by Call Number: GE150 .E53 2011 ReferenceISBN: 0816067937
Great Events from History II, Ecology and the Environment by Call Number: GE150 .G72 1995 ReferenceISBN: 0893567515v.1-5
Encyclopedia of the U.S. government and the environment : history, policy, and politics by Call Number: GE180 .E53 2011 ReferenceISBN: 1598842374Publication Date: 2011v.1-2
The Atlas of U.S. and Canadian Environmental History by Call Number: GF503 .A84 2003 ReferenceISBN: 0415937817Publication Date: 2003
Historical dictionary of the green movement. by Call Number: Reference GE195 .P36 2007ISBN: 081085614X
Government
Encyclopedia of the United States Congress by Call Number: JK1021 .D48 2007 ReferenceISBN: 9780816050581Publication Date: 2006v.1-v.4
Landmark Legislation 1774-2012 by Call Number: JK1021 .S733 2014 ReferenceISBN: 9781452292304Publication Date: 20142nd ed.
Health
A Chronology of Medicine and Related Sciences by Call Number: R133 .M717 1997 2nd Floor StacksISBN: 1859282156
The Cambridge World History of Human Disease by Call Number: R131 .C233 1993 ReferenceISBN: 0521332869
Sports
Encyclopedia of Ethnicity and Sports in the United States by Call Number: GV709.5 .E83 2000 ReferenceISBN: 0313299110
Sports in America from Colonial Times to the Twenty-First Century: an Encyclopedia by Call Number: GV583 .S68588 2011 ReferenceISBN: 9780765617064also ONLINE
Facts and Dates of American Sports by Call Number: GV583 .C37 1988 ReferenceISBN: 0060551240First edition.- Sports in North America: A Documentary History by Call Number: GV581 .S655 1997 ReferencePublication Date: 1997-2004v.1-10 (v.9 never published)
The Encyclopedia of North American Sports History by Call Number: GV567 .H518 2002 ReferenceISBN: 0816050716Second edition.
Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport by Call Number: GV567 .B48 2005 ReferenceISBN: 0974309117v.1-4
LGBTQ+
Historical Dictionary of the Lesbian and Gay Liberation Movements by Call Number: HQ76.5 .M944 2013 ReferenceISBN: 9780810872264
LGBT, Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender History in America by Call Number: Reference HQ76.3.U5 E53 2004ISBN: 06843126113 volumes
Encyclopedia of Lesbian Histories and Cultures by Call Number: HQ75.5 .L4395 2000 ReferenceISBN: 0815319207
Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures by Call Number: HQ75.13 .G37 2000 ReferenceISBN: 0815318804
Great Events from History - Lgbtq Events by Call Number: HQ73 .L45 2017 ReferenceISBN: 9781682175910Second edition.
v.1-2
The Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History by Call Number: HQ73 .G56 2019 ONLINEISBN: 9780684325545v.1-3
Lumber/Logging
- Encyclopedia of American Forest and Conservation History by Call Number: SD143 .E53 1983 ReferenceISBN: 0029073502v.1-2
Oktoberfest
Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations of the World Dictionary by Call Number: GT3925 .H64 2010 ReferenceISBN: 9780780809949Fourth edition.
The regions of Germany : a reference guide to history and culture by Call Number: DD290.25 .B87 2005 ReferenceISBN: 031332400X
Civil War
Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History by Call Number: Reference E468 .H47 2000ISBN: 15760706625 volumes
The Civil War Era and Reconstruction by Call Number: Reference E468 .S65 2011ISBN: 9780765682574Publication Date: 2011-08-18An encyclopedia of social, political, cultural, and economic history of the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction.
Women in the American Civil War by Call Number: E628 .W655 2008 ReferenceISBN: 9781851096008Publication Date: 2007Vol. 1-2
World War II
World War II : the encyclopedia of the war years, 1941-1945 by Call Number: D743.5 .P57 1996 ReferenceISBN: 0679770399
Refugee immigration (Hmong/Cuban) and German Immigrants
Encyclopedia of American Immigration by Call Number: JV6465 .E53 2021 ReferenceISBN: 9781642656886Second edition.
v.1-3
Dictionary of American Immigration History by Call Number: JV6450 .D53 1990 ReferenceISBN: 0810822415
Atlas of Refugees, Displaced Populations, and Epidemic Diseases by Call Number: RA652 .S63 2018 ReferenceISBN: 9780199676316First Edition.
Annotated Bibliography of Hmong-Related Works 2007-2019 by Call Number: DS509.5.H66 P44 2020 ReferenceISBN: 9781644100219NOTE: We also have two earlier volumes like this, covering publications back to 1987.Encyclopedia Latina: History, Culture, and Society in the United States by
Call Number: Reference E184.S75 E587 2005ISBN: 07172581574 volumes
A Bio-Bibliography of German-American Writers, 1670-1970 by Call Number: Z1229.G3 W35 1985 ReferenceISBN: 0527944440
Pennsylvania Germans : an interpretive encyclopedia by Call Number: F160.G3 P48 2017eb ONLINEISBN: 9781421421391
Music
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Oxford Music Online includes access to The Oxford Dictionary of Music, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, and The Oxford Companion to Music. Combined, these resources cover every aspect of the music world including bibliographies on composers and musicians and hundreds of carefully selected and classified links to international musical sites.
Note: This resource is limited to 3 simultaneous users. If access is unavailable, please try again later.
The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture v.12: Music by Call Number: F209 .M875 2008 ONLINEISBN: 1469616661
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music by Call Number: Reference ML100 .G16 1998ISBN: 0824060350Publication Date: 199710 volumes
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Historical Performance in Music by Call Number: REF ML100 .C28 2018Publication Date: 2018
Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World by Call Number: Reference ML102.P66 C66 2003ISBN: 0826463215Publication Date: 20037 volumes
The Encyclopedia of Native Music by Call Number: ML156.4.I5 W75 2005 ReferenceISBN: 0816524475Section 1: Arctic/Circumpolar Region
Manufacturing/Business (Breweries)
Workers in America : a historical encyclopedia by Call Number: HD8066 .H57 2013 ONLINEISBN: 9798216038696v.1-2- The register of United States breweries, 1876-1976 by Call Number: HD9397.U52 F74 ReferencePublication Date: 1976v.1-2
Encyclopedia of American Industries by
Call Number: HC102 .E53 2018 ReferenceISBN: 9781410363251v. 1. Manufacturing industries
Find More Reference Sources
- Use the Murphy Library Catalog.
- Limit to Reference (only finds print)
- Add the term "encyclopedias". (If you Don't limit to Reference, this will get online encyclopedias too.)
- Use Murphy Library Subject Guides or Topic Guides. Many guides highlight reference sources on a tab labeled Books or Quick Reference.
- Browse the reference collection stacks (Murphy Library 1st floor) in the call number area corresponding to helpful books you've already found.
- Reference Universe (Paratext) This link opens in a new windowA single, centralized access point to much of Murphy Library's reference collection (online and print subject encyclopedias, handbooks, compendia), allowing you to deeply search within the collection through tables of contents and actual back of the book indexes. Link directly into the work if available online. Covers 5,400 titles held by Murphy Library, and about 45,000 reference works total. Tutorial video
