Furman University home page
Loading...
FYW: African American Agency in the Civil War: Background Information
Background Materials
- African American Studies CenterA comprehensive collection of scholarship focusing on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture. Includes 7,500 articles. The core content includes Africana, which presents an account of the African and African American experience in five volumes.
- U.S. History (Gale In Context)U.S. History In Context provides a complete overview of our nation’s past that covers the most-studied events, decades, conflicts, wars, political and cultural movements, and people. Includes over 5,000 primary source documents, reference materials, and journal titles.
- American National BiographyAmerican National Biography offers portraits of more than 18,700 men and women whose lives have shaped the nation. Each entry traces a person's life through the sequence of significant events as they occurred from birth to death. Features over 2,700 illustrations, more than 80,000 cross-references, and links to select web sites.
General Background
- Oxford Reference OnlineIndexes the full text of over 100 Oxford subject encyclopedias and dictionaries.
- Gale EbooksGale eBooks is a Database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
- Sage Reference OnlineOnline versions of reference titles from Sage Publications.
- U.S. History (Gale In Context)U.S. History In Context provides a complete overview of our nation’s past that covers the most-studied events, decades, conflicts, wars, political and cultural movements, and people. Includes over 5,000 primary source documents, reference materials, and journal titles.
- Credo ReferenceProvides access to more than 1300 titles, covering every major subject - from art to medicine, psychology to history, and technology to literature.
Starting with background information
Wikipedia on Steroids!
How to use encyclopedias and background references in research:
- Encyclopedias are a great place to get an overview of a topic that is new to you.
Encyclopedias often identify narrower areas within the broad subject, which may suggest a focus for your research. Many encyclopedia article entries also provide a list of references that can help you locate further, more in-depth and scholarly information sources. - Work from general to specific.
If a general encyclopedia doesn't provide enough background information, continue your research with focused subject encyclopedias. Wikipedia can be a place to find specific names, dates and events, but use it mainly as a jumping off point. The library has scholarly subject encyclopedias which provide reliable and in-depth information. - Remember: Encyclopedias are good starting points, but don’t contain ALL the information you'll need on a subject for college level research.
- Get started: Look up your keywords in the indexes to subject encyclopedias. Read articles in these encyclopedias to set the context for your research. Note any additional keywords and relevant items in the references at the end of the encyclopedia articles.