Western Civilization
Research Guide
Through the 16th Century
Reference
Works
Specialized reference works like the ones listed
below are very useful for research. All of the titles here are
located on the first floor of the Library. Browse around the same
areas to find other useful titles.
Biographies
- Dictionary of World Biography
Reference CT 104
.D54 1998
- Women in World History
Reference HQ 1115 .W6
Chronologies
- Ancient Egypt, 2615 - 332 B.C.E.
Reference DT 61 .A55 2002
- Chronology of European History
Reference D 11 .C54 1997
- Chronology of World History
Reference D 11 .C57 1999
- Classical Greek Civilization, 800-323 B.C.E.
Reference DF 77 .K49 2001
- European Renaissance and Reformation
Reference CB 359 .W67 2001
- Great Events from History: Ancient and Medieval
Series
Reference D 59 .M26
- Magill's History of Europe
Reference D 20 .M28 1993
- Medieval Europe, 814-1350
Reference D 102 .M38 2002
- Roman Republic and Empire, 264 B.C.E. -
476 C.E.
Reference DG 77 .W726 2001
Encyclopedias
- Ancient Writers: Greece and Rome
Reference PA 3002 .A5 1982
- Blackwell Encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England
Reference DA 152 .B58 1999
- Civilization of the Ancient Mediterranean:
Greece and Rome
Reference DE 59 .C55 1988
- Civilizations of the Ancient Near East
Reference DS 57 .C55 1995
- Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
Reference PN 681.5 .C57
- Dictionary of the Middle Ages
Reference D 114 .D5 1982
- Encyclopedia of Early Christianity
Reference BR 162.2 .E53 1997
- Encyclopedia of European Social History
from 1350 to 2000
Reference D 20 .E6 2001
- Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic
Tradition
Reference DF 757 .E53 2000
- Encyclopedia of Prehistory
Reference GN 710 .E53
- Encyclopedia of the Early Church
Reference BR 66.5 .D5813 1991
- Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
Reference D 114 .E63 2000
- Encyclopedia of the Renaissance
Reference CB 361 .E52 1999
- Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World
Reference HQ 1127 .S25 2001
- Encyclopedia of World History
Reference D 21 .E578 2001
- Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery
Reference HT 861 .H57 1997
- Literature and its Times
Reference PN 50 .L574 1997
- Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800
Reference PN 86 .L56
- Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery
Reference HT 861 .M24 1998
- Medieval England: an Encyclopedia
Reference DA 129 .M43 1998
- Medieval France: an Encyclopedia
Reference DC 33.2 .M44 1995
- The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium
Reference DF 521 .O93 1991
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
Reference DT 58 .O94 2001
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in
the Near East
Reference DS 56 .O9 1997
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation
Reference BR 302.8 .O93 1996
Library
Catalogs
Use the catalogs below to locate print and audio-visual
materials.
Primary
Sources
There are several ways to locate primary sources
in the College of DuPage Library.
Some may be found in the Reference Section
- Great Books of the Western World
Reference AC 1 .G72 1990
- Library of Original Sources
Reference AC 1 .T4 1971
- Translations & Reprints from the Original
Sources of European History
Reference D 101 .P43a
- The World's Best Essays
Reference PN 6141 .B8 1971
- The World's Best Orations
Reference PN 6121 .B85 1970
There are considerably more sources available
in the General Collection. To locate them use the College's Library
Catalog.
- Do an author search.
Anything written by a participant would be a primary source.
For example, for a primary source about the war in Roman times,
look up "Caesar, Julius" as an author and find his
The Gallic War.
- Do a title search.
Some primary sources have no known authors. For example, a known
primary source for Egyptian religious rites is the Book of
the Dead also known as the Egyptian Book of the Dead.
Doing a title search shows the Library owns several copies.
- Do a subject search.
- Primary sources often contain one of these
subheadings: sources, personal narratives, diaries, or correspondence.
For example, look up Middle Ages and scan the results for
those subheadings.
- Sometimes primary sources are found in
broad collections with or without the subheadings above.
Look up a broader heading and limit the search results to
"source material" to find some useful collections.
Many of the Internet Sites mentioned below also
have collections of primary sources. Using Primary Sources on the Web is an excellent guide to finding and evaluating web-based primary sources.
Indexes
Although the College of DuPage
Library has only one print or online index specifically for history,
many of these general sources cover the topic well. In many cases,
the databases will have the full text article available online.
If you are using these databases from off-campus, please be sure
to have your library
card available.
- Online Indexes
- Academic Search Premier
(1984-present)
Indexes over 3,000 journals and magazines; sometimes includes primary sources.
- Essay
and General Literature Index (1900-present)
Indexes chapters or essays in books.
- Expanded
Academic Index (1980-present)
Indexes over 2500 journals and magazines.
- History Study Center
Primary and secondary sources.
- JSTOR
JSTOR is an archive of digitized journal articles ranging in date from the 1700's to the early 2000's. These collections span a variety of subjects in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Physical Sciences.
- Newspapers
(1980s-present)
Full text of the Washington Post, Wall Street
Journal, and the New York Times (last 90 days
only).
Internet
Sites
The Internet is an excellent place
to find primary sources for the study of history. Primary sources
are original documents from the time period. These texts are the
foundation upon which other studies and interpretations are made.
The Internet is also a good place to find images on historical
topics. While there are good sites with secondary information,
they are often not in enough depth for academic research. It is
best to critically evaluate these sites before using them.
Writing
Papers
Here are some helpful sources
to help you research and write papers in history.
Citing
Sources
The MLA format (Modern Language Association) is
commonly used to create bibliographies or works cited pages. The
sources below may help you.
Professors in other disciplines or professors
at other schools may prefer a different citation style. It's always
best to ask to be sure what style they would like you to use.
For professional writing in the field of history, the Chicago
Manual of Style is the prefered citation format. These are some
sources to help with that format
Marianne Berger, Reference Librarian
630-942-2338
berger@cdnet.cod.edu
18 August 2003
