Tips
Encyclopedias are great for:
- choosing a topic
- quick self-education
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, vocabulary, terminology
- bibliography
Cambridge Histories Online
Excellent resource. Full text. Chapters as pdfs. Extremely high quality essays with rich footnotes and bibliography.
Dress
World Clothing and FashionPublication Date: 2013From prehistoric times to the age of globalization, articles cover the evolution of clothing utility, style, production, and commerce, including accessories (shoes, hats, gloves, handbags, and jewellery) for men, women, and children.
Ethnic Dress in the United StatesPublication Date: 2014This concise A-to-Z encyclopedia explores 150 different and distinct items of ethnic dress, their history, and their cultural significance within the United States.
Recommended background
- Berg Fashion LibraryPart of Bloomsbury Fashion Central, this database provides integrated text and image content on world dress and fashion throughout history. Offers fully cross-searchable access to an expanding range of Berg content collections, including the Encyclopedia of world dress and fashion, e-books, e-journals, museum directory, reference works, images, and more. Browsable by time (1600 to date) and by place (click on world map).
- Black Studies CenterBlack Studies Center combines invaluable resources for research and teaching in Black studies: Schomburg studies on the Black experience, International index of Black periodicals (IIBP), The Chicago defender, ProQuest dissertations for Black studies, and Black literature index. This fully cross-searchable gateway to Black studies includes scholarly essays, recent periodicals, historical newspaper articles, and much more.
- Oxford African American studies centerFull text. Scholarly. Primary, secondary and other sources.
Comprehensive collection of scholarship focused on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture, coupled with precise search and browse capabilities
Superior to Wikipedia on most topics & disciplines:
Africa, History, and more
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the PresentPublication Date: 2009Covering African American history in all areas of U.S. history and culture from 1896 to the present,
Encyclopedia of African American History, 1619-1895Publication Date: 2006Documents the full range of the African American experience during that period-from the arrival of the first slave ship to the death of Frederick Douglass-and shows how all aspects of American culture, history, and national identity have been profoundly influenced by the experience of African Americans.
Encyclopedia of African American Culture and HistoryPublication Date: 2005Identifies and addresses broad themes critical to understanding the texture of the cultures, achievements, challenges, and promise of the 150 million people of African descent who live in North America, Central and South America, and the Caribbean.
Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North AfricaPublication Date: 2004Covers topics in fields such as politics, history, economics, religion, sociology, and more.
Encyclopedia of AfricaPublication Date: 2010Cover prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business and trade, religions, ethnic groups, organizations, and countries throughout Africa. There are articles on contemporary nations of sub-Saharan Africa, ethnic groupsfrom various regions of Africa, and European colonial powers. Other examples include Congo River, Ivory trade, Mau Mau rebellion, and Pastoralism. The Encyclopedia of Africa is sure to become the essential resource in the field.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African ThoughtPublication Date: 2010Offers a comprehensive view of African thought, covering the intellectual tradition both on the continent in its entirety and throughout the African Diasporain the Americas and in Europe.
Encyclopedia of the African DiasporaPublication Date: 2008Information on the historical, political, economic, and cultural relations between people of African descent and the rest of the world community.
The Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa: archaeology, history, languages, cultures, and environmentsPublication Date: 1997A bibliography for each article guides readers with further research.
