Online Encyclopedias
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) This link opens in a new windowan interdisciplinary collection of reference sources. Use your keywords to find articles within encyclopedias and other reference works in the GVRL Collections.
- Oxford African-American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowFull-text reference sources for information about African American and African history and culture.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowsearch encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works published by Oxford University Press.
Print Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works provide background information and overviews of topics - they are a good starting point for research.
Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience by Publication Date: 2005"The most authoritative research and scholarly reference set on the African experience. Covers prominent individuals, events, trends, places, political movements, art forms, business, religion, ethnic groups, organizations and countries on both sides of the Atlantic."
Encyclopedia of Africa South of the Sahara by Publication Date: 1997This 4-vol. set covers covers the peoples, cultures, and complex history of the Africa regions south of the Sahara. The articles describe such topics as archaeology family and kinship; government; politics and law; and African arts; cultures; and languages.
Encyclopedia of African History by Publication Date: 2004Africa is a vast continent, home to many millions of people. Its history stretches back millennia and encompasses some of the most ancient civilizations in the world. Modern Africa boasts a rich cultural heritage, the legacy of many diverse influences from all around the world, reflecting the central role African plays in world history.
Encyclopedia of African History and Culture by Publication Date: 2005A comprehensive encyclopedia on African history with a broad cultural and geographic sweep. Covers African history from ancient times to the modern day. Spans the immense scope of African history, geography, art, cultures, peoples, personalities, and wildlife.
Encyclopedia of African Nations and Civilizations by Publication Date: 2001covers the major historic civilizations and the fifty-two nations of Africa in an accessible A-to-Z format. Each nation's entry narrates the history of the region from the early development of its peoples to the present-day situation.
Encyclopedia of African Peoples by Publication Date: 2000This handy resource is divided into four major sections: "Peoples of Africa," "Culture and History," "Nations," and "Biographies." "Peoples of Africa" covers more than 1000 peoples while describing 200 major ethnic groups such as the Hausa, Maasai, and Zulu in greater detail. The "Culture and History" section features the pictorial histories, ethnic distributions, and chronologies of North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. "Nations" covers countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe, which are described in terms of population, geography, economy, and recent historical events. More than 300 noted Africans from antiquity (Hannibal) to the present (Nelson Mandela) are included in the "Biographies" section.
The Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa : archaeology, history, languages, cultures, and environments by Publication Date: 1997"Working around circumstances reflecting the typical environmental hurdles, communication breakdowns, and sometimes difficult access experienced in remote areas, researcher and scientist Joseph Vogel has brought together, over a period of four years, a solid body of current learning on precolonial Africa. Organized in the form of essays 2 to 10 pages long, contributed by more than 80 experts from around the world, material is grouped into two major areas. The first sections contain background information covering environmental conditions, archaeological and anthropological research, and the development of technologies such as metalworking. The later sections describe how, over time, the diverse populations of this huge continent have developed and adapted to their surroundings and circumstances."
