Background information databases
Background information provides basic facts, history, descriptions and concepts about your topic. Begin your research by looking up your keywords in an online dictionary, encyclopedia or reference book.
- American History Online This link opens in a new windowSpans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history, highlighting the important people and events of the American experience.
- Credo Reference - All Subjects Search This link opens in a new windowContains dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, quotations and atlases, plus a wide range of subject-specific titles related to history.
- American Decades 1900 through 1999 - GVRL This link opens in a new windowCross-disciplinary source for documenting and analyzing periods of contemporary American social history (1900-1999).
- Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowPrimary documents, web sites, and maps. Material is compiled by Oxford University Press from their many reference works, such as Africana, Encyclopedia of African American History, various Oxford Companions, and the forthcoming African American National Biography.