This list is a sample of our reference sources in the library. Reference sources include Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Directories, Handbooks, Guides, and much more.

• General Works
• Biographies
• Chronologies
• Art

• Health
• Literature
• Politics
• Religion
• Sports

General Works

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women's Issues and Knowledge
4 volumes

An alphabetically organized encyclopedia that contains 900 articles relating to global women’s issues written by scholars worldwide. Each article includes a list of References and Further Readings. These bibliographies, generally from four to ten works in length, are comprised of print works for the most part, though some entries do list Web sites. Volume 1 follows this with a topical listing, sorting the articles into 13 categories ranging from Arts and Literature to Politics and the State.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories

Includes biographies and terms from feminist theory in a cross-disciplinary scope.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Girlhood in America: An Encyclopedia
2 volumes

Includes over 100 articles by interdisciplinary scholars covering girlhood in North American from the first settlements to the present. Contains excerpts from primary sources to illustrate girls’ experiences and perceptions of themselves.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor; Oakland Regional Library

Handbook of American Women's History

Alphabetically arranged entries with bibliographies to indicate available primary and secondary sources.

Location: Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Women's Studies Encyclopedia
3 volumes

Online version contains over 700 alphabetically listed entries prepared by scholars from all disciplines. The focus is on the American experience, although many articles deal with women in other areas of the world and other cultures or on women in general.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Women’s Almanac

A useful reference that offers a state-by-state look at women’s history, major statistical indicators on women in the U.S., biographies of notable women in U.S. history, statistical indicators on the status of women by country, and timelines of women in world history and U.S. History.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Information Please Women’s Sourcebook

Facts, figures, and information on a wide variety of topics relevant to women’s lives in America. Topics include Education, Child Custody, Activism, Safety and Violence, among others.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

The Quotable Woman

Over 18,000 quotations by women from all over the world, from all walks of life. Four indexes at the back aid in searching this reference book: Biographical Index, Career and Occupation Index, Ethnicity and Nationality Index, and Subject Index.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

State of Women in the World Atlas

This atlas contains 34 maps showing the similarities and differences, continuities and contrasts among women around the world. Included are thematic maps on Families, Birthrights, Body Politics and Health, Work, Literacy, Property, and Power.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

What American Women Did, 1789-1920

A year-by-year reference on what American women did from the beginning of the Republic through the end of World War I and the passage of the 19th Amendment. Women’s activities are presented in the context of seven categories: domesticity, work, education and scholarship, religion, arts, joining forces (organized efforts to achieve reform), and law and politics.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Biographies

Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia
17 volumes

With more than 10,000 biographical entries, this encyclopedia features women from all walks of life, including: rulers, royalty, lawyers, politicians, soldiers, heroines, pacifists, resistance fighters, financiers, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, investors, authors and more. Coverage includes many women for whom profiles are not included in traditional sources.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

A to Z of Native American Women

100 biographies of notable Native American women who have influenced both Indian and non-Indian society.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Encyclopedia of Women in the Ancient World

Written for the general reader, this book contains biographies of some 150 women of the ancient world—Europe, Greece, Rome, Egypt, North Africa, and Western Asia—from about 3000 B.C. to A.D. 500. The women included range from the very famous to the mythological or legendary women and goddesses.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Notable Twentieth-Century Latin American Women

A biographical dictionary of 72 noteworthy Latin American women from the fields of politics, art, religion, government, education, literature, popular culture, and the sciences.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Chronologies

Chronology of Women Worldwide

Gives a comprehensive account of historical and cultural events involving women from ancient times to 1996. Entries are arranged by date. Includes special indexes—by woman’s name and day of the month—as well as a general subject index.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Milestones: A Chronology of American Women's History

Brief articles make up this chronology of American women’s experiences from the pre-colonial era to the present day.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Art

ARTstor

A digital library of approximately 700,000 images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, and social sciences with a set of tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes.

Dictionary of Women Artists
2 volumes

600 entries on artists working in a wide variety of media from the Middle Ages to the present day. Coverage is biased towards Anglo-American artists. A list of exhibitions and bibliography appears at the end of each entry. Opening essays on women as artists in the Middle Ages and training opportunities and the changing work conditions provide context for the individual artists profiled.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Health

Encyclopedia of Women’s Health Issues

More than 200 hundred entries of terms and names emphasizing women’s biology, and their sociocultural, economic, and physical environment.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Literature

Cambridge Guide to Women’s Writing in English

Over 2500 entries on literary women authors, texts, as well as entries on kinds of writings, genres, and general terms.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Politics

The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics

Provides political and biographical details on achievements of women and minorities in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of every nation in the world. Also includes shorter biographical sketches of women and minorities who have in influenced the politics in their nation, either locally or internationally, since 1900.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Religion

Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion
2 volumes

A comprehensive encyclopedia that provides background on women’s history in world religion from the beginning of time to present. Includes entries of extraordinary women within a tradition as well as depictions of women’s day-to-day lives.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Women in Scripture

A dictionary of named and unnamed women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal / Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament; with 205 entries for named women in part I. Part II, the larger section, includes entries for unnamed biblical women in the order they appear in the Bible.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor

Sports

International Encyclopedia of Women and Sports

Contains a broad range of articles on individual sports and athletic activities, sport and society, and the current status of women’s participation in physical education and sports in every nation.

Location:
Gleeson Reference Room, 1st Floor