LibGuides: Library Resources for Finding Information on a Specific Date: Finding Encyclopedias and Other Resources

Why use reference books?

We collect reference books so that you can have access to high-quality, factual information. Reference books include dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and almanacs. Reference books are a good place to go if you need facts, background information on a topic, or statistics.

Reference books do not circulate--that means you cannot check them out--but you are welcome to use them while you're here in the library. The reference section is located behind the reference desk, which is the desk straight ahead of you once you enter the library.

Specialized Encyclopedias

In the reference area, you’ll see many specialized encyclopedias that cover a wide variety of subjects. Here are a few examples:

Some typical general reference sources in history:

General Encyclopedias such as World Book, Britannica, or Larousse

Call Number: Ref.AE

Chronology of World History

Call Number: Ref. D11.M39 1999

Great Lives from History

Call Number: Ref. CT120.66

Dictionary of Concepts in History

Call Number: Ref. D13.R49

Statesmen Who Changed the World

Call Number: Ref. D108.S73

More specific reference sources include such titles as:

History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties, with illustrations and bibliographical sketches.

Call Number: Ref.F457.J4H5 1968

Biographical and historical souvenir for the counties of Clark, Crawford, Harrison, Floyd, Jefferson, Jennings, Scott, and Washington, Indiana

Call number: Ref. F532.A18 B65

The encyclopedia of Louisville

Call Number: Ref. F459.L85 E54 2000

Our Nation’s Archive (documents from U.S. History)

Call Number: Ref. E 173.O77

American National Biography

Call Number: Ref. CT213.A68

Encyclopedia of the Holocaust

Call Number: Ref. D804.3 .E53

There are also many specialized encyclopedias that are available as electronic books. You can find them listed in IUCAT and use them online. One example is:

American Decades This link opens in a new window
Reference resource that provides information about contemporary American social history, from 1900-1999.
Gale Ebooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL)) This link opens in a new window
Contains electronic versions of a wide variety of encyclopedias from Gale Publishing.

People's Chronology
Presents a year-by-year record of human events from prehistory to the present. Each chronological chapter is further organized by era or year, and within each year by 33 standard subject categories that feature not only political events and wars, but also events in the arts and humanities, education, transportation, science and medicine, and social trends.

Other Resources

Other useful titles which may be found in the Stacks on the third floor of the Library:

This place we call home : a history of Clark County, Indiana F532.C5 K73 2007

A journey to the Falls F532.O4 B3

The history of the Greeks in Kentucky, 1900-1950 F459.L89 G77 2001 v.1