Research Guides: HIST488W-1: Mass Incarceration beyond the New Jim Crow / Suddler: Background Information

What are reference works?

Reference works: Provide an overview of your topic

Are often written by scholars or experts in the field

Provide key people, places, events, and terms that you can use to refine your searches

Often offer suggestions for further reading

Bibliographies

If you're not sure where to start, handbooks, companions and review essays can be one place to explore what's been written. Here are some examples:

The Oxford Bibliography for African American Studies has a section, "Incarceration"

Oxford Bibliographies also has a resource devoted to criminology.

There are also a number of Oxford Handbooks relevant to this class including:

The Oxford Handbook of Sentencing and Corrections

Portals for Locating Handbooks & Companions

To find companions, handbooks, or bibliographies related to Native American and Indigenous Studies you can search discoverE; however, individual articles can be hard to find. Also try searching the portals to these resources below.

Oxford Bibliographies, annotated bibliographies that provide a gateway to research in particular subfields of Native American Studies.

Cambridge Companions, guides to various Native American literature topics.

Rutledge Handbooks, book-length companions to various topics.

Oxford Handbooks, reviews of scholarly literature.

Annual Reviews Online, reviews of scholarly literature in the sciences and social sciences.

Encyclopedias & Biographical Databases

The databases below contain overviews of topics related to the Civil Rights Movement that can help shape your research.

Credo Reference Unlimited This link opens in a new window
Contains bilingual dictionaries and reference works in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Contains online reference works -- see title list for individual works included.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Content of 300+ books published by Oxford University Press.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Access wide-ranging materials that focus on the lives and events that have shaped African American and African history and culture. Comprised of five major encyclopedias and additional reference sources from Oxford University Press.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., editor-in-chief.

Find Biographical Information

American National Biography This link opens in a new window
Source of biographical information of people from different eras who have influenced and shaped American history and culture.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
Access wide-ranging materials that focus on the lives and events that have shaped African American and African history and culture. Comprised of five major encyclopedias and additional reference sources from Oxford University Press.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., editor-in-chief.