Introduction and Reference Sources - HSS 300 - World War II

Welcome to the World War II OWHL Guide

Welcome to the History 300 World War II OWHL Guide! On this tab, you'll find reference sources to start your research. You'll want to get an overview of your topic with a few reference source (databases, e-reference books, or print reference sources shelved in Garver). Read and take notes to record the relevant people, places, events and dates. Take down any alternate terminology to use when keyword searching secondary and primary sources.

If you have any questions, please chat with a librarian - we are here to help!

Image: "Remember Pearl Harbor" December 7, 1941, Button on Top of USS Arizona Afire. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Quick Links

Databases: A to Z The complete list of databases available to you through the OWHL. To search for History specific databases click the "All Subjects" dropdown and select "History and Social Science."
Library Catalog Search items at Phillips Academy or broaden your search to include items offered to you by the NOBLE network.
NoodleTools Helps you stay organized and create citations

Full Text Finder This link opens in a new window This resource allows you to search for specific journal titles in the OWHL's collection and see which databases have the full text articles.

Reference Databases

Infobase African American History Online This link opens in a new window
This source features thousands of reference articles, covering the entire spectrum of African-American history over the past 500 years. Some primary sources may also be found here.
Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new window
This comprehensive collection of scholarship focuses on the lives and events which have shaped African American and African history and culture. It includes reference articles, biographies, and primary sources.
Infobase American History This link opens in a new window
This source features thousands of reference articles on American political, military, social, and cultural history over the past 500 years. Some primary sources may also be found here.
Infobase American Indian History This link opens in a new window
This source provides reference articles on over 15,000 years of Native American culture and history, and includes biographies, legends, treaties, and more. Some primary sources are included.
Gale in Context: Biography This link opens in a new window
This database provides biographical reference articles on more than 650,000 international figures from all times periods and areas of study. It will also link you to relevant popular and scholarly press articles.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Reference articles from one of the oldest and most trusted reference sources in the world.
ABC_CLIO Daily Life Through History (Academic Edition) This link opens in a new window
This comprehensive collection of primary and reference sources provides direct insight into the social history of societies ranging from the Australian Aborigines all the way to 21st-century China.
Infobase Issues & Controversies in History This link opens in a new window
This database use primary sources to analyze great conflicts in U.S. and World along with in-depth secondary source articles on historical events. It also provides each issue with its background information and its pro/con arguments.
Reference Universe This link opens in a new window
Reference Universe searches the indices of reference works at the Garver Room. It provides researchers with the most reliable introductions to your research topic, simplifying the process of finding just the right book or journal article.
Gale in Context: U.S. History This link opens in a new window
This database provides reference and secondary source information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History.

Reference E-Books

Encyclopedia of World War II. by Alan Axelrod
Call Number: REF E-Book
World War II at sea : an encyclopedia. by Spencer Tucker
Call Number: REF E-Book
American women during World War II : an encyclopedia. by Doris Weatherford
Call Number: REF E-Book
The Oxford companion to World War II. by Ian Dear
Call Number: REF E-Book
Encyclopedia of American Cultural & Intellectual history by Mary Kupiec Cayton
Call Number: REF E-Book
The Columbia Guide to Hiroshima and the Bomb. by Michael Kort
Call Number: REF E-Book

Reference Universe

Reference Universe This link opens in a new window
Reference Universe searches the indices of reference works at the Garver Room. It provides researchers with the most reliable introductions to your research topic, simplifying the process of finding just the right book or journal article.

Reference Books in Print (Garver)

The Encyclopedia of World War II by Spencer C. Tucker (Editor); Priscilla Mary Roberts (Editor); Allan R. Millett (Foreword by)
Call Number: REF 940.54 EN32 V. 1-5
Publication Date: 2004
The Home Front Encyclopedia by James D. Ciment (Editor); Mary Hickey; Jason Kniser; Thaddeus Russell (Editor)
Call Number: REF 940.3 H75 V. 1-3
Publication Date: 2006