Reference Sources
Books: LC Class Number Guide
Books: LC Subject Headings
Primary Sources in Schaffer Library
Government Publications
New Acquisitions

Biographical

Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Specialized Dictionaries

Encyclopedia articles, written by subject authorities, provide information useful for gaining a basic understanding of a topic and getting started with a research project. Typically, a bibliography of "classic" books and articles for further research follows each article. Students will find also these encyclopedias useful for brushing up on topics related to their central area of investigation.

"American Civil War." [Online] Encyclopædia Britannica 2003,  Encyclopædia Britannica Online. <http://search.eb.com/eb/article?eu=6188> Accessed: January 15, 2003 

Boatner, Mark Mayo
The Civil War dictionary. Mark Mayo Boatner; maps and diagrams by Allen C. Northrop and Lowell I. Miller. New York : D. McKay Co., c1959

CALL NUMBER: Ref E468.B7 

Dictionary of American History. Revised edition. New York: Scribner, 1976-1978.

CALL NUMBER: Ref E 174 .D52 1976 -- v. 1-8

Encyclopedia of American Economic History: Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas. Glenn Porter, editor. New York: Scribners, 1980.

CALL NUMBER: Ref HC 103 .E52 -- v.1-3

Encyclopedia of American Political History: studies of the principal movements and ideas. Jack P. Greene, editor. New York: Scribners, 1984.

CALL NUMBER: Ref E 183 .E5 1984 -- v.1-3

Encyclopedia of American Social History. Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliott J. Gorn, Peter W. Williams, editors. New York: Scribner; Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada; New York: Maxwell Macmillan International, c1993.

CALL NUMBER: Ref HN 57 .E58 1993 -- v.1-3
 

Encyclopedia of the American Civil War : a political, social, and military history. David S. Heidler and Jeanne T. Heidler, editors ; foreword by James W. McPherson ; David J. Coles, associate editor ; Gary W. Gallagher, James M. McPherson, Mark E. Neely, Jr., editorial board. Santa Barbara, Calif. : ABC-CLIO, c2000.

CALL NUMBER: Ref E468 .E53 2000 v1-5

Wright, John D.
The language of the Civil War. Westport, Conn. : Oryx Press, 2001.

A compilation of slang, nicknames, military jargon and terminology, idioms, colloquialisms, and other words and expressions used (and often originating) during the American Civil War.

CALL NUMBER: Ref E468.9 .W755 2001

Oxford Reference Online: History. [Online] Oxford University Press, 2002. <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/SUBJECT_SEARCH.html?subject=s11> Accessed January 15, 2003

A searchable and browsable collection of history dictionaries from Oxford University Press including: A Dictionary of World History.

Atlases

Atlas of American History. New York : Scribner, 1984.

CALL NUMBER: Ref Atlas G 1201 .S1 A8 1984

Atlas of American Military History. Edited by James C. Bradford. New York : Oxford University Press, 2003.

"From the Indian Wars of the seventeenth century to the military operations in Afghanistan, the Atlas of American Military History covers the full span of America at war, exploring the personalities, methods, strategies, and historical contexts of each conflict. Following a loose chronological framework, the atlas examines every significant U.S. military campaign and war, both domestically and internationally, from the Colonial Wars to the present."

CALL NUMBER: Ref E 181 .A85 2003

Bibliographies

The American Civil War : a handbook of literature and research. Steven E. Woodworth, editor ; foreword by James M. McPherson. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1996.

CALL NUMBER: Ref Bib E456 .A47 1996

Eicher, David J.
The Civil War in books : an analytical bibliography. David J. Eicher ; foreword by Gary W. Gallagher. Urbana : University Of Illinois Press, c1997.

CALL NUMBER: Ref Bib E468 .E57 1997 

Library of Congress
Civil war diaries and personal narratives, 1960-1994 : a selected bibliography of books in the general collections of the Library of Congress. Compiled by Albert E. Smith, Jr. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1998

CALL NUMBER: Govt Doc LC 1.12/2:C 49/2

Biographical Resources

American National Biography (ANB Online)  Portraits of "more than 18,000 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the nation," with thousands of illustrations, more than 80,000 hyperlinked cross-references, links to select web sites, and powerful search capabilities.

Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1928.

CALL NUMBER: Ref E 176 .D56

Citation Guides and Style Manuals

Style manuals and citations guides illustrate how to cite book, journal, and other research sources, including materials found in online databases and on the Web according to the conventional format of a particular discipline. Subject-specific citation guides are listed below, and a complete listing appears at Reference Sites: Citation Guides and Style Manuals.

Chicago:  Turabian Style Guide. [ Online ] Available: http://www.lib.usm.edu/~instruct/guides/turabian.html

Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. [ Online ] Andrew Harnack and Eugene Kleppinger. http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/

Books in Schaffer Library are arranged by Library of Congress Class number. Class numbers are searchable in the Web Catalog and browsable in the Stacks and Reference Collection. Some examples are listed below:

E 151 - 740	United States (General)
E440.92-E453	Slavery in the United States. Antislavery movements
E 456 - 459.2	United States - The Civil War period, 1861-1865
E 470.1	Battles (Alphabetical or chronological lists)
E 486.3	United States - The Civil War period, 1861-1865 - Comprehensive works. General histories - Chronology

Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863 Slavery -- United States -- History Southern states -- politics and government United States History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives United States --History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Campaigns

Conduct a search in the catalog for primary source documents by combining Keyword ("confederate" in the example below) with "sources" or any other appropriate term such as "documents," "correspondence," "diaries," or "narratives."

Atlantic Monthly (1857- )
Format: microfilm, 1857-1932 (1st Floor, the Microforms Area)
Indexed:PCI, also
Poole's Index and< Nineteenth-Century Reader's Guide at Ref Bib AI3 .P7 and Ref Bib AI3 .R47 respectively

HarpWeek: The Civil War Era 
Format: World Wide Web Resource

Nation
Format: microfilm, 1865-present (1st Floor); paper, 1868-1981 (Basement)
Indexed: PCI, also
Poole's Index and Nineteenth-Century Reader's Guide at Ref Bibliog AI3 .P7 and Ref Bibliog AI3 .R47 respectively

New York Times (1865-present)
Format: microfilm (1st Floor)
Indexed: New York Times Indexat Ref Bibliog AI21 .N45

North American Review (1815-1940)
Format: microfilm (1st floor)
Indexed:  PCI, also
Poole's Index and Nineteenth-Century Reader's Guide at Ref Bibliog AI3 .P7 and Ref Bibliog AI3 .R47 respectively

Popular Science Monthly (1873-1914)
Format: paper (Basement)
Indexed:Poole's Index and Nineteenth-Century Reader's Guide at Ref Bibliog AI3 .P7 and Ref Bibliog AI3 .R47 respectively

Videotapes - For documentary footage of historical events.

To see whether the library has a videotape on a particular topic, select a keyword search in the Schaffer Library Catalog.  Then enter any words or phrases joined by the term and. Example: 

(united states and civil war) and videorecording

Government Publications

CALL NUMBER: Ref HA 202 .A385 1976

U.S. National Archives and Records Service
Military Operations of the Civil War: a guide-index to the offical records of the union and confederate armies, 1861-1865. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1966. Index to The War of the Rebellion: a compilation of the official records of the union and confederate armies.

CALL NUMBER: Ref Bib CD 3047 .U5 v.1-5
CALL NUMBER E464 .U6 v. 1-131 (with supplements and maps)

U. S. Congress.  Congressional Record Index--published since 1789 under a succession of titles (shown below in the table); in most cases the indexes to the Congressional Record (etc.) are on microfiche, together with the text itself. Except for the last entry in the table, all are located on the 1st Floor in the Microforms Area.   Go to the drawers labeled U.S.Congress. Congressional Record.

The New Acquisitions List  (residing on the Library Catalogs page) is generated on the 10th of each month and includes items added to the library's collections for the previous calendar month.

Find electronic and other information by broad subject area. The Research By Subject pages identify more general "Library Materials" for that subject area (including Reference Sources (in print and online), Books by LC Class Number for browsing the shelves, New Acquisitions in that subject area, Periodical Subscriptions, and Senior Thesis / Senior Project information. There is a listing of "Course-Related Materials" (including Research Guides and a Blackboard link), as well as a selection of "Electronic Materials" such as Databases & Indexes, Selected Websites, Alerts for keeping current in the subject area. Finally there is a "Contacts & Connections" component which identifies the Department Liaison, tells how to arrange a Bibliographic Instruction session, and concludes with a link to the Departmental Home Page.  Links to news and current events, government documents, statistical data, and a "Researchers Tool Kit" are also located here.