LibGuides: 21H.380: People and Other Animals: Find Background Information

Background Information Online - General

Need a quick fact or more background reading? Try one of the links below.

Encyclopaedia Britannica
The classic reference source.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Specialized online encyclopedias.
Oxford Reference Online
Includes both encyclopedias and dictionaries as well as more specialized titles from History and other disciplines.
Credo Reference
619 (and counting) encyclopedias and other reference works across disciplines. Click on "Find a Book" to get to a page listing all of the works by subject, including History.

Background Information Online - Biography

Need a quick fact or more background reading? Try one of the links below.

American National Biography (ANB)
An illustrated collection of more than 17,000 specially written biographies of men and women, from all eras and walks of life, whose lives have shaped the nation.
Biography in Context
Biographical information on more than one million notable people throughout history, around the world, and across many fields of study.
Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
Core reference work in the history of science, includes lengthy biographical essays about deceased natural scientists and mathematicians from all countries and historical periods.
Note: Vol. 1-16 are the original DSB (published 1970-80). Vol. 17-18 are supplements (1990). Vol. 19-27 are the New DSB (2007), including 575 new articles and 250 supplementary or replacement articles about figures covered in the original DSB.
Dictionary of Medical Biography
Dictionary of National Biography (DNB)
Contains biographies of remarkable people who shaped British history worldwide from the 4th century BC to the year 2004.

Background Information Online - Specialized

Need a quick fact or more background reading? Try one of the links below.

For additional resources, see the History Research Guide and the Science, Technology, & Society Research Guide.

Agriculture in History
Covers historical events, developments, and innovations in agriculture worldwide. 3v, 2010.
Cambridge Historical Dictionary of Disease
A history and description of the world's major diseases of yesterday and today. 2003.
Dictionary of Zoology
Encyclopedia of American Environmental History
Covers issues, events, laws, and figures in U.S. environmental history. 4v, 2011.
Encyclopedia of Mammals
Encyclopedia of Western Colonialism since 1450
A comprehensive resource on the subject of colonialism and expansion from a global perspective.
Oxford Companion to World Exploration
In addition to examining the lives and expeditions of influential explorers, the book covers navigational and marine sciences and ranges from ancient cultures through modern space exploration.
Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World
Provides information about major world developments from 1750 to the present.
Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics

Background Information: Print Books

Online information is convenient, but sometimes just what you need is in a print book in the library! The following are selected reference books that might be useful for your work. You can use Barton to identify additional reference works.

Encyclopedia of World Environmental History
Shepard Krech III, J.R. McNeill, Carolyn Merchant, editors. New York : Routledge, 2004.
Hayden Library - Humanities Reference GF10.E63 2004
Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Issues: An Encyclopedia
Bruce E. Johansen, ed. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.
Rotch Library - Stacks GF50.J65 2003

Subject Guide

Kai Alexis Smith

She/ Her

Contact:

kaias@mit.edu
Room 7-238
617.258.5593

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