Research Guides: HIST 712: US Civil War Era Research Seminar HIST 712 (Spring 2025): Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Reference

Subject Encyclopedia Databases

The easiest way to find a subject database is to use one of our encyclopedia databases, which are electronic collections of a wide range of specialized encyclopedias.

Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
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Information on many subjects from the 14th century BC-21st century AD drawn from reference books published by Oxford University Press. Coverage: Varies by title.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Digitized reference books (encyclopedias, directories, dictionaries, thesauri, atlases, quotation dictionaries, handbooks, etc.) in many subjects. Searchable full text across all volumes. Date coverage: Varies by title. Access available to unlimited users.

Finding Encyclopedias in the Catalog

Books & Media: W&M Libraries Catalog
Find books owned by W&M Libraries.

In the top box, search Encyclopedia* as a Subject
In the second box, type in your topic (Ex. women AND education)

Civil War example.

Examples of US History Encyclopedias
NOTE some of these are off site and need to be ordered via the catalog. Search titles of interest in the main library catalog.

Skim the Collection!

Though many of our print encyclopedias have been replaced with digital editions, we still have quite a few volumes in the main library. Start in the call number D section.

Handbooks & Companions

To find handbooks related to your topic, add (handbook* OR companion) to the search you've previously used to find monographs.

Example

"united states" AND history AND "civil war, 1861-1865" AND (handbook OR companion)

This works best in WorldCat because handbooks are extremely pricy and WM doesn't buy them all.

WorldCat This link opens in a new window
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Materials held by thousands of libraries in the US and abroad. Books, websites, computer programs, films, slides, journals, magazines, papers, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, newspapers, sound recordings, videotapes, etc. Coverage: Before 1000BC-present.