Research Guides: History Resources: Encyclopedias & Biography

Selected Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference is an online reference library that provides access to over 500 highly-regarded, scholarly reference books for all subject areas. Credo Reference also has the tools to find sources for further research and access thousands of images, charts, graphs and more.
Oxford Reference Online [Selected Articles in Full Text] This link opens in a new window
The Core Collection contains about 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. It is a fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of these books, giving subscribers unprecedented access to a comprehensive information resource.
Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
Provides full text online access to the complete 250-plus volumes of Cambridge Histories reference series. Among the many encyclopedic histories are Cambridge World History, Cambridge Ancient History, New Cambridge Medieval History, and New Cambridge Modern History.

Encyclopedia of the Modern World by Peter N. Stearns (Editor)
Publication Date: Oxford University Press, 2008
"Contains articles on world events; countries; organizations; regions; ethnic groups; and themes such as social history, demography, family life, politics, economics, religion, thought, education, science and technology, and culture" 1750-present.

European History Online
EGO examines 500 years of modern European history by transcending national, disciplinary and methodological boundaries. The subjects are as diverse as the communicative and transfer processes which EGO depicts. They range from religion, politics, science and law, to art and music, as well as to the economy, technology and the military. Ten thematic threads enable a systematic approach to accessing the content. EGO is maintained by the Leibniz Institute of European History in Mainz and the Trier Center for Digital Humanities

Historical Encyclopedia of Natural and Mathematical Sciences by Ari Ben-Menahem
Publication Date: New York: Springer, 2009
Surveys 100 generations of great thinkers, offering more than 2,000 detailed biographies of scientists, engineers, explorers and inventors who left their mark on the history of science and technology. This six-volume masterwork also includes 380 articles summarizing the time-line of ideas in the leading fields of science, technology, mathematics and philosophy.

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages (Online)
ISBN: 0227679318
Publication Date: James Clark & Co., 2001
Provides "information on all aspects of the Middle Ages, from the fifth century to the 15th. Cultural, religious, intellectual, social and political history is covered, and while the main concentration is on Europe and Christendom, the rise of Islam and Arabs, and of other civilizations with which Europeans came into contact is also extensively treated. Art and architecture (including the building of the great cathedrals), the growth of universities, developments in law and scientific discoveries are all treated in the same depth as political history. Archaeological, geographical, historical, linguistic, philosophical and theological topics are covered, and biographies of monarchs, bishops and major intellectual figures are included.

Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages (Online)
Oxford University Press, 2010
Covers "all key aspects of European history, society, and culture from 500 to 1500 A.D., as well as the Byzantine Empire, Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples of the era. It is designed both for medievalists, who need a detailed and reliable reference tool, and for students and general readers seeking an accessible guide to the period."
Brill's Medieval Reference Library
Collected reference source that includes Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages, Encyclopedia of Medieval Dress and Textiles, Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage, and Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle.
Lexikon des Mittelalters & International encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages
München: Artemis Verlag, 1980-1999
The Lexikon des Mittelalters online (LexMA) is based upon the most important encyclopaedia in the world for medievalists (published in German between 1977 and 1999). LexMA's 36,700 signed articles written by 3,000 authors covers all aspects of medieval studies within the period 300 to 1500. Its geographical scope covers the whole of Europe, part of the Middle East, and parts of North Africa to document the roots of Western culture and those of its neighbours in the Byzantine, Arab and Jewish worlds.

The New Cambridge Medieval History
Call Number: D 117 .N48 1995
ISBN: 052136292X
Publication Date: Cambridge University Press, 1995-
This volume of The New Cambridge Medieval History covers most of the period of Frankish and Carolingian dominance in western Europe. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, the authors consider developments in Europe as a whole, from Ireland to the Bosphorus and Iceland to Gibraltar. The chapters offer an examination of the interaction between rulers and ruled, of how power and authority actually worked, and of the impact of these on the society and culture of Europe as a whole. AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT.

Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology
"Contains articles on military leaders; battles; sieges; individual fortresses; and military technology focusing on subjects such as armor, navigational techniques, and siege warfare tactics. In addition, each regional overview...includes a discussion of primary sources, an introductory narrative, and an entry on historiography."

Encyclopedia of Ancient History (Online)
Publication Date: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
Scholarly encyclopedia of ancient history and biography
Brill's New Pauly (Online)
Call Number: DE5 .N4813 2002; DE5 .N4913 2006 in THO
ISBN: 9004122591
Publication Date: 2011-05-10
"Brill s New Pauly is an encyclopedia. It is "the first lexicographic project that both differentiates between Greco-Roman antiquity itself and its subsequent images, and demonstrates the close connection between antiquity and its aftermath." Includes maps and illustrations."
The Cambridge Ancient History
Call Number: D57C17 1982 and D57C17 1970 (mainly in Library Depository)
ISBN: 0521224969
Publication Date: Cambridge University Press, 1982-
An encyclopedic comprehensive ancient history in 14 volumes, spanning Prehistory to Late Antiquity. AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT.

Odysseas Portal
Produced by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, the resource includes maps, chronologies, and information on monuments, museums and places
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites

The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization (Online) by Simon Hornblower; Antony Spawforth; Esther Eidinow
Publication Date: Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2014
"Beautiful illustrations, clear and authoritative entries, and a useful chronology and bibliography make this Companion the perfect guide for readers interested in learning more about the Graeco-Roman world. As well as providing sound information on all aspects of classical civilization such as history, politics, ethics, morals, law, society, religion, mythology, science and technology, language, literature, art, and scholarship, the entries in the Companion reflect the changing interdisciplinary aspects of classical studies"

Biography Reference Bank This link opens in a new window
Contains biographical information on approximately half a million people, from antiquity to the present, along with thousands of images. It includes the full text biographical articles plus millions of magazine citations (many of which contain full-text), and book review excerpts.
Marquis Biographies Online This link opens in a new window
Offers brief biographical information on contemporary and historical persons from a wide range of fields. (Historical persons appeared in Who Was Who in America volumes (1607-1985).)
Dictionary of Literary Biography This link opens in a new window
Provides access to biographical essays focusing on all genres and time periods of American and British literature and selected other literatures. Essays discuss the lives and careers of authors and summarize critical responses to their work.

Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (Online)
Scribner & Sons, 2007.
Use link to Gale Virtual Reference
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Brief biographical information on all senators and congress persons from the Continental Congress in 1774 to the present. Search by name, state, party, position, or year.

Selected National Biographical Sources

United States:

American National Biography

Essays on people from all eras who have influenced and shaped American history and culture. You'll find profiles of more than 18,000 men and women from all walks of American life, from the well-known to the infamous to the obscure.

Notable American Women, 1607-1950
"This superb biographical dictionary covers the lives of exceptional women throughout three and a half centuries of American history." Also available in print. See also supplements: Notable American Women: The Modern Period covering women whose death dates fall between 1951-1975 and Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary Completing the Twentieth Century covering women whose death dates fall between 1976 and 1999."

Biographies from Oxford African American Studies Center

Search by name, topics and other parameters to find biographical information from multiple sources including African American National Biography (Oxford, 2008).

Australia:

Australian Dictionary of Biography

"Australia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography. In it you will find concise, informative and fascinating descriptions of the lives of over 12,000 significant and representative persons in Australian history." Also available in print.

Australia's Prime Ministers
Biographical resource produced by the National Archives of Australia.

Canada:

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

Available in English and French

Denmark:

Dansk Biografisk Leksikon. København, J. H. Schultz, 1933-44.

France

Dictionnaire de Biographie Française (print)
Paris, Letouzey et Ané, 1933-
Long running, unfinished serial biographical resource

Archives Biographiques Françaises. (microfiche)
München : K.G. Saur Verlag, [c1993?]
Microfiche in Thompson Library
"Brings together into a single alphabetical arrangement entries from 122 of the most important biographical reference works for persons living during the 19th and 20th centuries through the 1960s."

Germany:

Dictionary of German Biography (print)

K. G. Saur, 2006.
Call Number: CT759 .D481 2001
"The Dictionary of German Biography is unique, complete and comprehensive with biographies of nearly 61,000 people from the German-speaking world. Coverage stretches all the way from the time of Charlemagne to the present day and includes lesser-known as well as world-famous Germans."

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (online)
Universal German Biography. searchable; full text images from 55 of 56 vols.; Also includes index to Neue Deutsche Biographie

Great Britain:

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
An illustrated collection of 50,000 specially written biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of Britain's past, from the fourth century BC to the year 2000.

Italy:

Dizionario biografico degli Italiani (online)

Biographical dictionary of Italians. The print edition is in the depository-http://library.ohio-state.edu/record=b1121953~S7

Netherlands

Nieuw Nederlandsch Biografisch Woordenboek. Leiden, A. W. Sijthoff's uitgevers-maatschappij, 1911-37.
In 10 volumes, includes “22,000 short life sketch of important or at least prominent Dutch . ..No persons were included who were deceased after 1910." Also available in print at OSU Libraries.

Switzerland:

Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (online) Basel: Schwabe, c2002. Also available in print at OSU Libraries but volumes incomplete.

Dictionnaire Historique & Biographique de la Suiss. 7 Vols. (print) Neuchâtel, Administration du Dictionnaire historique et biographique de la Suisse, 1921 [i.e. 1920]-33. Online from HathiTrust