Reference sources
The Northwestern University Library now has a large collection of online reference books. Below are links to some of the largest collections.
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new windowSearchable database of several hundred subject encyclopedias and other reference works across all subject areas, but with particular strengths in the social sciences and humanities. It includes a number of major reference works, and is Northwesterns largest single collection of reference materials. A good source for authoritative background information.
- Oxford Bibliographies This link opens in a new windowOffers annotated bibliographies of the most important books and articles on specific topics in a growing range of subject areas. Particularly useful for anyone beginning research.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowOnline version of many Oxford University Press reference works, ranging from specialized dictionaries and companions to major reference works such as the Encyclopedia of Human Rights, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink, the Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States, and the Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History, among many others.
- SAGE Knowledge This link opens in a new windowAn online collection of subject encyclopedias and handbooks covering a wide-variety of subjects in the social sciences. Particularly strong for handbook coverage.
Hard copy reference books (ones that are not online) are located in several places on the Evanston and Chicago campuses. Here are the principal locations for these materials:
- Newspaper and Periodical Room of Main LIbraryThe most commonly used and recent reference books in the Northwestern Library collections are housed in the Newspaper and Periodicals Reading Room of the Main library. Scanners and photocopiers are available for copying specific sections of these non-circulating works.
Additional Reference Collections at Northwestern University:
- Architecture Reading Room (Deering) Reference
- Art Collection (Deering Library) Reference
- Galter Health Sciences Library (Chicago) Reference
- Herskovitz Library of African (5 East) Studies Reference
- Pritzker Legal Resource Center (Chicago)
- Transportation Library (5 North) Reference
Identifying reference works
The library's rich collection of reference sources are listed in NUsearch. You may search by title, keyword, or subject heading.
To use the subject search, you must use a valid subject heading. To find "official" subject headings, you may go to the Library of Congress Subject Heading page. In the search box, type in your subject, then choose LC subject headings from the drop down menu, and hit enter. A list of "official" subject headings will appear.
One effective way to search NUSearch is to browse by subject headings, watching for subheadings that indicate a reference work, such as:
- Monroe, Marilyn, 1926-1962--Encyclopedias.
- French language--Dictionaries--English.
- Palestine--Bibliography.
- Chicago--(Ill.)--Directories.
- United States--Statistics.
The browse feature is reached by a link at the top of the screen:
Alternatively, it is possible to use the NUSearch advanced search to search for subject headings liked to the subheadings that indicate a reference work. Chief among these are Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Bibliography, Atlases, Statistics, and Handbooks. Here is a way such a search could be set up:
More on NUSearch
When using in NUSearch, it is also possible to identify various types of reference resources by using the facets on the left side of the search results:
