Reference Collection | Catalog
Indexes and Databases | Internet Resources | Interlibrary Loan | Citation Guides

Encyclopedias and other reference works provide background reading on your topic and related issues, bibliographies, names of authorities and important works in the field, and occasionally related websites.

Specialized Encyclopedias, Handbooks, and Dictionaries:

American Multiculturalism:

American immigrant cultures: Builders of a nation. 2v. [RR E184.A1 A63448 1997]

Encyclopedia of multiculturalism. 8v. [RR E184.A1 E58 1994]

Gale encyclopedia of multicultural America. 2v. [RR E184.A1 G14 1995]

Jewish-American History:

Jewish-American history and culture: An encyclopedia [RR E184.J5 J48 1992]

American Jewish desk reference. [RR E184.35 .A44 1999]

Immigration:

Encyclopedia of American immigration. 4v. [RR JV6465 .E53 2000]

Encyclopedia of Ellis Island. [RR JV6484 .M67 2004]

Immigration and asylum: From 1900 to the present. 3v. [RR JV6012 .I56 2005]

American History/Sociology:

Encyclopedia of the United States in the nineteenth century. 3v. [RR E169.1 .E626 2001]

Dictionary of American history. 10v. [RR E174 .D52 2003]

Working Americans, 1880-2005. 8v. [HD8066 .D47 2000] See esp. vol.8, Immigrants.

Judaism:

The encyclopedia of Judaism. 3v. [RR BM50 .E64 1999]

Catalog

Bridge catalogs resources available at St. Olaf and Carleton libraries. Use Bridge to search for books and periodicals, but not chapters within books or articles within periodicals.

• Use a Keyword search if you do not know the subject or you wish to combine more than one idea, e.g.["school* AND (computer* OR internet)] Use asterisk (*) to search various endings (e.g. "computer*" will retrieve "compuetr,computers,computerized" etc.)
• Once you have found a key reference, explore the subject by clicking on the link in the catalog.
• Use the limiting option to search for different types of material (e.g. videos, DVDs, government documents), or specific publication dates.

You may request materials housed at Carleton directly from Bridge by clicking on the button.

Interdisciplinary:

Academic Search Premier
A multidisciplinary database with access to over 8040 scholarly and popular publications, many in full-text. Covers 1975 to present.

JSTOR --An index to and full text of select, academic journals.

Project Muse -- An index to and full text of journals published by Johns Hopkins University Press and other scholarly publishers.

Disciplinary:

Jewish Studies:
RAMBI: The Index of Articles on Jewish Studies -- A "selective bibliography of articles in the various fields of Jewish studies and in the study of Eretz Israel. Material listed in Rambi is compiled from thousands of periodicals and from collections of articles in Hebrew, Yiddish, and European languages."

Slavic and Eastern Europen Studies:
American Bibliography of Slavic and East European Studies (ABSEES)-- An index of United States and Canadian publications in Slavic and East European Studies. Includes books, book reviews, portions of books, journal articles, and dissertations. Arranged by subject and geographical region.

History:
America: History & Life -- An index to approximately 2,800 journals, plus dissertations and books in North American History. See Historical Abstracts for coverage outside North America.

Sociology:
PAIS Archive -- Provides historical perspective on many of the 20th century's public and social policies.

Sociological Abstracts -- Covers international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Topics include mass phenomena and political interactions, social development, culture and social structure.

Political Science:
Worldwide Political Science Abstacts -- Covers many areas of political science and its complementary fields, including international relations, law, and public administration / policy.

Historical Newspapers& Magazines:

Early American Newspapers Digital
America's Historical Newspapers provides access to "cover-to-cover reproductions of hundreds of historic newspapers" from 1690 to 1922.

American Periodicals Series Online 1740-1900
Features over 1,100 periodicals spanning nearly 200 years-from colonial times to the advent of American involvement in World War II. Titles range from America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository, to popular magazines like Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal.

New York Times (1851 - 2003) -- Offers "full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue. The collection includes digital reproductions providing access to every page from every available issue."

Remember to evaluate each site critically for authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.

Based on "Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask." UC Berkeley - Teaching Library Internet Workshops. 7Jan. 2005. 14 Feb. 2005. <http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html>, and "Evaluating Web Sites." The Ohio State Univeristy Libraries. 14 Feb. 2005. <http://gateway.lib.ohio-state.edu/tutor/>

A few good directories that evaluate web contents:

Librarians' Index to the Internet -- "A searchable, annotated subject directory of more than 14,000 Internet resources selected and evaluated by librarians for their usefulness to users of public libraries."

Infomine: Scholarly Internet Resource Collections -- "A virtual library of Internet resources relevant to faculty, students, and research staff."

The Scout Report Archives -- "A searchable and browseable database containing critical annotations of carefully selected Internet sites and mailing lists."

A few good sites to try:

From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America -- "To commemorate the 350th anniversary (2004) of Jewish settlement in the United States, the Library of Congress created this exhibition featuring more than 200 items from its Judaica collection. The items portray the Jewish experience from immigration and acculturation to discrimination, acceptance, and assimilation."

"People of a Thousand Towns": The Online Catalog of Photographs of Jewish Life in Prewar Eastern Europe -- "This collection of 17,000 photographs from the YIVO archives is a visual record of pre-World War II Jewish communities. In some cases, the pictures are all that remains. Online albums document holiday observance, Yiddish writers, immigration, women's roles, and formal studio portraits."

Centropa: Jewish Heritage in Central and Eastern Europe -- "An online collection of Central and Eastern Europe 'pre (and post)-Holocaust family photographs and oral histories' assembled by an 'international team of historians, filmmakers, web designers, journalists, educators, photographers and Jewish community activists.'"

JewishEncyclopedia.com -- "This site 'contains the complete [unedited] contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia, which was originally published between 1901-1906.' It has over 15,000 articles and illustrations and covers Jewish history, law, theology, philosophy, literature, biography, and traditions. Searchable and browsable."

Academic Guide to Jewish History -- "Well-organized access to hundreds of Jewish historical resources. Find information gateways, encyclopedias, biographies, libraries, archives, indexes, bibliographies, full-text articles, journals, and more. Searchable and browsable. This site, a collaborative effort among 12 institutions, is directed by Jenny Mendelsohn of the University of Toronto Libraries."

Jewish Virtual Library -- "Contains information on Jewish history, women, the Holocaust, travel, Israel-U.S. relations, politics, religion, and notable people. Includes a bibliography, a glossary, maps, a timeline of Jewish history, a virtual tour of Israel, and exhibits of 'Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress.'"

How the Other Half Lives -- "The full text, complete with original illustrations, of the original, 1890 edition of Jacob A. Riis' How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York . Riis wrote about Italians, Jews, gangs, prostitutes, children, bohemians, Chinatown, lodging houses, and other topics."

Tenement Museum -- "A New York City Museum that tells the stories of immigrants who lived in 97 Orchard Street, a tenement built in 1863 on Manhattan's Lower East Side."

Any item not owned by St. Olaf or Carleton may be ordered through Interlibrary Loan(ILL) provided you allow enough time (a week on average).