American History

Encyclopedias, companions, and handbooks are volumes that contain articles on various subjects.  Most of the encyclopedias in DeWitt Library are subject-specific, meaning they explore one topic in-depth, such as the Vietnam War.  Articles are most often written by experts in the field.  They provide great background on a subject and introduce you to the key issues surrounding a topic. They can be in hard copy and/or digital form.

Electronic encyclopedias and companions are located online.  Our largest collections are available through Gale Virtual Reference Library and Credo Reference.  Another large collection which includes U.S. history topics is Cambridge Collections Online (its search box is below as well). Also, Oxford has relevant U.S. materials online which can be located through its search box (below). Finally, there are other digitized reference works which can be discovered through a topic search of our WorldCat Discovery catalog (see search box under Book tab or search box on main DeWitt Library page).