What Are Reference Sources?
Reference sources are authoritative works that you can refer to for quick information. They may contain specific information or introductory articles. Types of reference sources include encyclopedias, dictionaries, almanacs, handbooks, atlases, bibliographies, and so on.
On this page, you will find reference sources specific to sociology and selected related topics.
General Online Reference Sources
Use these electronic reference resources to provide an overview of your topic. If connecting from home, make sure your computer is configured for off-campus access.
- Gale E-Books (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
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Online encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized reference sources, primarily in the social sciences and humanities. - Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
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Contains several searchable interdisciplinary reference works from Oxford University Press. - Reference Universe This link opens in a new window
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A good place to start, but note that it is an index to over 15 million articles in 11,000 subject encyclopedias and handbooks, both print and online and does not provide full-text articles. Instead, it will connect you to our catalog so you know where to find the appropriate encyclopedia, dictionary or other reference work. You will be linked to UCLA's holdings for any entries you find.
Reference Sources - United States
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
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Oxford Handbooks, now a part of Oxford Academic, provide review articles which summarize and analyze current research and trends in a given discipline. UCLA subscribes to most Oxford Handbooks Online, excluding a few individual titles.
- Encyclopedia of U.S. Political History
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Online encyclopedia explores the events, policies, people, ideas, institutions, groups, and movements that have created and shaped political life in the United States. Covers 1500 to present.
- ProQuest Congressional This link opens in a new window
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Contains full text of bills, resolutions, hearings, debates, and other legislative documents. Also contains Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports, Serial Set 1789-present, and legislative histories (through Legislative Insight).
- Guide to the Presidency
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Online Guide to the Presidency is the leading reference source on the persons who have occupied the White House and on the institution of the presidency itself. - Supreme Court A-Z
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Online resource offers accessible information about the Supreme Court, including its history, traditions, organization, dynamics, and personalities - Guide to Interest Groups and Lobbying in the United States
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- CQ Voting and Elections Collection
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Database about the American voter, major and minor political parties, campaigns and elections, and historical and modern races for Congress, the presidency, and state governors. The database is divided into six categories: presidential elections, congressional elections, gubernatorial elections, campaign and election process, political parties, and voters and demographics. - CQ Public Affairs Collection
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Online source brings together CQ's storehouse of current affairs content in a fully integrated reference tool. Some subjects are advocacy and public service, education, energy, the environment, health, and transportation - Congress A-ZPrint resource in Powell Library. Provides insight into the key questions readers have about the U.S. Congress. Congress A to Z helps make sense of the narrow power division between Republicans and Democrats, the methods members use to advance their agendas, the influence of lobby groups, the key role of committees and strong-willed leaders, and much more.
Reference Sources - International
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
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Oxford Handbooks, now a part of Oxford Academic, provide review articles which summarize and analyze current research and trends in a given discipline. UCLA subscribes to most Oxford Handbooks Online, excluding a few individual titles. - Europa World Plus This link opens in a new window
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Online version of the Europa World Year Book and Europa Publications' nine-volume Regional Surveys of the World series, which cover political and economic information in more than 250 countries and territories and provide information on a variety of international organizations.
- Political Handbook of the World
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- World at Risk
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- International Military Alliances, 1648-2008
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- Separatist Movements: A Global Reference
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- Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new window
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Full-text access to the complete 250-plus volumes of Cambridge Histories reference series. Provides political, economic, and social history, philosophy, and literature of selected countries and subjects. Continually updated with new volumes taken from the print series as soon as they become available.
Dictionaries
Click on the title to get to the catalog record. To find more topical dictionaries, search for "political science dictionaries" as subject list in the UCLA Library catalog.
- Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics
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Online resource. From library catalog click on ONLINE ACCESS link. - A Dictionary of Statistics
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