This guide suggests resources and strategies for research on the subject of World History.

Background Information  |  Facts & Figures  |  Find Articles  |  Find Books  |  Criticism & Reviews  |  Primary Sources  |  People  |  Organizations  |  Web Resources  |  Additional Resources 

Background Information (Overview Sources)

Encyclopedias and other reference works are an excellent place to start a research project or simply learn more about a particular topic.  They provide topic summaries, context, and bibliographies for further reading.

Berkshire Encyclopedia of World History (R 903 B4555)
Encyclopedia of African History
Encyclopedia of African Nations and Civilizations (R 960.03 En193)
Encyclopedia of Historical Treaties and Alliances (R 341.3709 P5417e)
Encyclopedia of the Renaissance
Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire (R 937.6 B885e)
Encyclopedia of the World's Nations and Cultures (R 903 En197)
Encyclopedia of World History
The Oxford Companion to Archaeology
The Oxford Companion to British History
The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
The Oxford Companion to Military History

Use dictionaries, statistical works, atlases, handbooks and similar works to find and check facts about topics, people, or events.

Brill's New Pauly. Chronologies of the Ancient World (R 913.003 N3936n)
Chronology of World History (R 902.02 M487c)
Concise Atlas of World History
A Dictionary of British History
A Dictionary of Contemporary History, 1945 to the Present
Dictionary of Contemporary World History
A Dictionary of Historic Documents (R 909.08 D5615 2003)
Dictionary of the Middle Ages (R 909.07 D561)
A Dictionary of Wars (R 904.7 K827d 1999)
A Dictionary of World History
A Guide to the Ancient World
The Hutchinson Chronology of World History
Late Antiquity: A Guide to the Post-Classical World
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas (R 903 N42)
The Timetables of History (R 902.02 G923t3)

Search indexes, abstracts, and databases to find journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  For a complete list of Kent Library's online indexes and databases, see the Find: articles page (http://library.semo.edu/find/articles.asp).

To find scholarly/peer-reviewed articles use the following online databases:

Academic Search Premier
America: History and Life 
GPO
Historical Abstracts
JSTOR
Project Muse
Proquest Research Library
Wilson OmniFile

To find historical/source materials, such as newspaper and magazine articles, use the following print sources:

Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, 1900+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Humanities Index, 1974+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Social Sciences and Humanities Index, 1966-1974
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
International Index to Periodicals, 1907-1966
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Combined Retrospective Index to Journals in History 1838-1974
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, 1802-1906
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
New York Times Index, 1851+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Official Index to the Times & The Times Index, 1906+
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)

Use the Kent Library Catalog (http://library.semo.edu/find/books.shtml) to find books, periodicals (journals, magazines, & newspapers), videos, government documents and other materials.

Keyword searches allow you to use your own words as search terms.
Subject heading searches use Library of Congress subject headings. Printed volumes of these headings are located near the Reference Desk on the main floor.

Some World History subject headings include:
Africa--History
Church History
Civilization--Medieval
France--History
History
History, Ancient
Latin America--History
United States--History--Civil War
World History
World War 1914 1918
World War 1939 1945

Browse the shelves by call number.  Use the Dewey Decimal chart (http://library.semo.edu/learn/guides/dewey100.shtml) to get you in the right subject areas or try the following:

History of the ancient world - 930s
History of Europe - 940s
History of Asia - 950s
History of Africa - 960s
History of North America - 970s
History of South America - 980s
History of other areas - 990s

Book Review Digest + Retrospective
Book Review Digest (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Book Review Index (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Combined Retrospective Index to Book Reviews in Scholarly Journals, 1886-1974 (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)

The Contemporary Middle East: A Documentary History (R 956.04 F347c)
Early Modern Catholicism: An Anthology of Primary Sources (282.420903 M669e)
The French Revolution and Human Rights: A Brief Documentary History (323.0944 F889)
Historic Documents (973 H6294 latest three years in Reference)
The Major International Treaties, 1914-1973 (R 341.026 G866m)
Major Peace Treaties of Modern History, 1648-1967 (R 341.2 Is7m)
Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal (W1.2:C86)
Twentieth Century China: A History in Documents (951.05 Sch659t)

Learn about important people, such as authors, researchers & historical figures related to this topic or field.

Biography Index (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Contemporary Authors (R 928 C7672)
Dictionary of American Biography (R 920.073 D561)
Dictionary of Literary Biography (R 928.1 D561)
Dictionary of National Biography (R 920.042 D561)
Historic World Leaders (R 920.02 H629)
Who Was Who in America (R 920.073 W621)
Who's Who in History (R 920.042 W622)

Professional organizations and/or societies often provide very useful topic related information.

American Historical Association
    (http://www.historians.org)

World History Association
   (http://www.thewha.org)

Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
   (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp)

Documents for the Study of American History
   (http://www.vlib.us/amdocs/)

EuroDocs: Primary Historical Documents from Western Europe
   (http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page)

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
   (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook.html)

Internet Medieval Sourcebook
   (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook.html)

For a list of Web searching tools, see the Find: web resources page (http://library.semo.edu/find/webpages.html).

Dissertation Abstracts
   (this database is available through the library's web page)
Editorials on File
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Facts on File
   (located in the Indexes/Abstracts area, main floor)
Facts.com
  (this database is available through the library's web page)