Online Reference Tools
Use these reference books to provide an overview of your topic, define terms, and list recommended readings. If connecting from home, make sure your computer is configured for off-campus access.
- Abortion Onscreen Database This link opens in a new windowFrom UCSF's Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH), this database is a listing of all film and television depictions available to viewers in the United States in which a character obtains an abortion, or discloses having one in the past.
- Black American Feminisms: A Multidisciplinary BibliographyCompiled bibliography of both primary and secondary resources, from UCSB librarian Sherri Barnes.
- Cambridge Companions Online This link opens in a new windowIncludes Companions to Literature and Classics, Companions to Music, and Companions to Philosophy, Religion, and Culture.
- Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new windowFull-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.
- CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
Reference resource for research in American government, politics, legislation, history, public policy, and current affairs. UCLA Library has selected access that includes CQ Almanac, CQ Researcher Plus Archive, and CQ Magazine (For CQ Press e-books, see Sage Knowledge).
- Daily Life through History (Academic) This link opens in a new windowIncludes reference books, images, time lines and primary documents on a range of topics related to world history, folklore, and culture depicting essential activities of daily life across the globe and throughout history.
- Dictionary of Cultural and Critical TheoryOnline guide to modern ideas in the interdisciplinary fields of cultural and critical theory. Includes bibliographies for most entries.
- Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic CulturesOnline edition of this major multi-volume work on numerous aspects of religion and culture, encompassing many geographic regions.
- Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient WorldThis A-to-Z encyclopedia, illustrated with many rare and revealing images, tells the stories of the famous and the ordinary, treating subjects as diverse as Greek heroine cults, the daily life of the German warrior women and the intrigue, glory and power of ancient Romeʼs imperial women.
- Gale E-Books (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new windowFull text online of several interdisciplinary reference books that are cross-searchable
- Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) HistoryCovers LGBTQ topics globally, and with an interdisciplinary approach that includes film, literature, human rights, politics, landmark legislation, activism, the arts, language, sports, and historical events.
- Handbook of the Sociology of GenderSpringer online handbook with survey chapters on a range of topics, including varieties of gender theory, gender and migration, and more.
- International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral SciencesMajor online social science encyclopedia, including many entries relevant to the study of gender and sexuality.
- Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical EncyclopediaFreely available online encyclopedia from the Jewish Women's Archive, including thousands of entries and bibliographies.
- Journal Citation Reports (JCR)JCR compiles statistical data on core journals in the sciences and social sciences based on articles’ cited references, in order to research influence and impact at the journal and category levels.
- Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's WorldThe Encyclopedia of Women in Today’s World looks at women today and delves into contexts of being female in the 21st century. The scope of the Encyclopedia focuses on women's status starting approximately in the year 2000 and going forward.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online: Sociology This link opens in a new windowAnnotated bibliographies for topics in the field of Sociology. Combines encyclopedia-style introductions with expert recommendations of the most important reference works, books, journals, and primary sources on the topic.
- Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowOxford 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.
- Oxford Reference This link opens in a new windowContains several searchable interdisciplinary reference works from Oxford.
- Pop Culture Universe: Icons, Idols, Ideas This link opens in a new windowDigital library of reference entries, images, and other introductory materials covering arts and visual culture, film, fashion, gender and ethnicity, youth culture, and more.
- Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new windowHandbooks covering a wide range of humanities, social sciences, psychology and some science topics, published by Routledge, Ashgate and other imprints. Some CRC Press handbooks can also be accessed via this particular site.
- Sage Encyclopedia of Trans StudiesOnline encyclopedia with articles and bibliographies on the experiences of trans people in different racial, religious, and sexual communities in the United States and the variety of ways that gender is expressed in other countries. Among the fields of study covered are psychology, sociology, history, family studies, education, law/political science, medicine, economics, literature, popular culture, the media, and sports.
- Sage Reference OnlineCollection of full-text reference works, including the Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence, the Encyclopedia of Gender and Society, the Encyclopedia of Global Health, and the Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society.
- SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new windowBooks, reference works, and instructional videos about qualitative and quantitative methodologies in the sciences and social sciences. Includes Research Tools (online tools for planning research and choosing methods), Cases (examples of real research), Video (research process, data science, and methods) and Datasets (sample data chosen specifically to support practice with various statistical analysis methods). Includes Diversifying and Decolonizing Research, and Sage Research Methods Video: Quantitative and Mixed Methods.
- Social History of the American Family: An EncyclopediaEntries cover the social, cultural, economic, and political aspects of American families from the colonial period to the present.
Biographical Information
Below are some basic places to start when looking for biographical information. Don't forget to try newspapers that are contemporary to the individual in question, and to search for print encyclopedias and biographies in the Library Catalog.
- American National Biography Online This link opens in a new windowBiographies of more than 19,000 men and women who have influenced American history.
- Biography Index Past and Present (H.W. Wilson) This link opens in a new windowIndex of biographical books and articles from 1946 to present.
- Marquis Who's Who on the WebProvides biographies of notable people in the United States and around the world. It includes Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who of American Women, Who's Who in American Art, and Who's Who in American Politics, 1985-present.
- Biography Reference BankIndexes biographies in periodicals and some reference books, published 1984-present (previously Biography Index).