Online Reference Shelf

American Studies
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• African-American Almanac
  The African American Almanac provides historical and current information on African American history, society, and culture in 28 topical chapters (e.g., African American Firsts, Politics, Family & Health). It also includes a chronology, a chapter of important primary documents, directories of organizations and businesses, a bibliography of recently-published works, annotated lists of crucial court cases, a filmography, hundreds of brief biographies, and more than 650 photographs, illustrations, maps, and statistical charts located within the most appropriate text.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America
  Contains 8,000 to 12,000 word essays on specific culture groups in the United States, emphasizing religions, holidays, customs, and languages in addition to providing information on historical background and settlement patterns. Also covers ethnoreligious groups such as Jews, Chaldeans, and Amish. Each essay lists organizations and research centers; name, address, and contact information for periodicals, radio, and television stations; and a further readings section.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History
  Designed to answer such key questions as: How has the U.S. Constitution shaped the economy of the United States? What were the consequences of Prohibition on consumers' behavior? This title presents 1,000 entries, era overviews, event/movement profiles, biographies, business/industry profiled, geographic profiles, and more.
   
• St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture
  Includes more than 2,700 signed essays ranging from 500 to 2,500 words, written by subject experts and edited to form a consistent, readable, and straightforward reference. Entries include subject-specific bibliographies and, where appropriate, photographs and textual cross-references to related essays.
   
• U.S. Immigration and Migration Reference Library
  Chronicles and interprets the phenomenal waves of immigration to the United States from the earliest times up to the present day, when restrictive policies have temporarily stanched the flow of immigrants. Covers the economic, religious, and political forces that compelled people to seek a better life in a new land; profiles both prominent and lesser-known people of the immigrant experience; and features key documents related to the topic.

Arts
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• Contemporary Fashion
  A reference book covering individual designers and fashion houses that have been active throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Informative essays mirror the many facets of the fashion world.
   
• Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and
  Footwear Through the Ages
  Provides a broad overview of costume traditions of diverse cultures from prehistoric times to the present day. Examines more than 430 items of human decoration and adornment, ranging from togas to turbans, necklaces to tennis shoes. Explores how and why items were created, the people who made them, and their uses. This set shows how clothing, headwear, body decorations, and footwear reflect the different cultural, religious, and societal beliefs.
   
• International Dictionary of Film and Filmmakers
  Written for film students and film buffs alike, this set features thorough coverage of legendary films, actors, actresses, directors, writers, and other production artists through detailed essays and commentary by experts. Entries include biographies, filmographies, comprehensive credits, production information, major awards, and bibliographies.
   
• Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students
  This set has been prepared especially for nonspecialists, focusing on Renaissance-era topics most studied in high school world history, art, literature, economics, and science curriculum. Includes entries on a range of topics, including Florence, Galileo, heraldry, Medici family, opera, piracy, Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, and many others. Includes a master chronology with topical timelines, a bibliography with age-appropriate further reading sources, and a comprehensive index.
   

Business
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• Business Leader Profiles for Students
  Covers 350 prominent individuals who have made significant contributions to business and industry. Profiles range from 1,250 to 2,500 words in length.
   
• Encyclopedia of Small Business
  Designed to provide entrepreneurs with how-to information that they can apply to their own business. Contains 600 detailed articles and overviews of all the key information needs of small business owners, including financing, financial planning, business plan creation, market analysis, sales strategy, tax planning, and human resource issues.

General Reference
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• Blackbirch Kid’s Visual Reference of the United States
  Contains more than 2,500 graphs, charts, maps, and photos that cover the most important and interesting facts about every state in the country.
   
• Blackbirch Kid’s Virtual Reference of the World
  Presents more than 2,500 graphs, charts, maps, and photos that cover the most important and interesting facts about every country on the planet.
   
• Credo Reference
  Provides online versions of over 250 reference books including general and specialist dictionaries and encyclopedias for a total of nearly 3 million entries. Includes 180,000 audio pronunciation files; 66,000 art, science, & medical images; and 90,000 atlas images of places & geographic features, as well as customizable, exportable data tables from the US Census & other sources. Entries also provide cross-reference links to related entries from other books and publishers across the entire collection.
   
• Encyclopedia of Population
  Provides expanded, up-to-date coverage of demographic topics both in the core field and in neighboring disciplines. Designed to encompass the large-scale changes in emphasis and research directions in population studies during the last 20 years, topics covered include: rapid demographic expansion in poor countries; low fertility rates and problems of old-age support; the environmental impact of a dense population; the press for expanded reproductive rights; and much more.
   
• Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security
  Provides a comprehensive, subject specific guide to the history, uses, scientific principles, and technologies of espionage, intelligence, and security, with special emphasis placed on the current ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding this very topical subject.

Health/Child Life
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• Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior
  The field of health psychology and behavioral medicine is relatively new, founded a quarter century ago at the interface of several disciplines, including psychology, medicine, and public policy. Behavioral medicine has three philosophical components: a) that behavioral, psychological, sociocultural, environmental, and biological factors are inextricably linked; 2) that these factors together affect health; and 3) that each of these factors could be used as an avenue for treatment or prevention of health problems and the promotion of a healthy lifestyle based upon informed choices. From adherence to a doctor's advice, to emotions and health, to obesity treatment and prevention, to women's health and all topics in between, this A-to-Z encyclopedia comprehensively covers all aspects of what has become the dynamic domain of behavioral medicine.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of Cancer
  Includes entries covering cancers, cancer drugs, treatments, side effects, and diagnostic procedures.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health: Infancy Through Adolescence
  The set, which covers every major body system, is arranged into five main entry types: Diseases and Disorders; Development; Immunizations; Drugs; and Procedures. With a distinct emphasis on the health issues affecting children under the age of four, the Gale Encyclopedia of Children's Health provides a much-needed service to new parents and promises to be a frequently used resource in any library.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders
  Provides clear, complete information on genetic disorders, including conditions, tests, procedures, treatments and therapies, in articles that are both comprehensive and easy to understand in language accessible to laypersons.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine
  Presents current, unbiased information on alternative and complementary medical practices, including reflexology, acupressure, acupuncture, chelation therapy, kinesiology, yoga, chiropractic, Feldenkrais, polarity therapy, detoxification, naturopathy, Chinese medicine, biofeedback, Ayurveda, and osteopathy. Information on recommended therapies for specific disorders and diseases, medicinal uses for plants and herbs, are balanced by conclusions of studies on efficacy and analysis of current levels of acceptance by traditional scientists and doctors.
   
• Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
  Includes information on more than 1,600 medical disorders and concepts. Each article includes in-depth discussion of causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, procedures, and other related topics. Written for a general audience with an authoritative tone.

Literature
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• Contemporary Novelists
  Contains biographical/critical essays on the most important living novelists writing in English worldwide.
   
• Contemporary Poets
  Provides biographical and bibliographical information on 789 of the world's most important contemporary English-language poets, including 120 new to this edition. Entries include personal and career information, addresses, a detailed bibliography, a list of further reading sources, and more. Each entry also includes a signed critical essay covering each poet's career and works, written by an expert in the field.
   
• Reference Guide to World Literature
  Contains biographical and critical essays on authors from throughout the world, as well as essays covering specific work or works of an author, with criticism and analysis of those works.

Philosophy/Religion
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• Encyclopedia of American Religions
  Contains general essays that historically trace the major religious families andtraditions, as well as directory listings that include contact and descriptive information on individual churches, religious bodies, and spiritual groups.
   
• Contemporary American Religion
  More than 500 articles cover the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs.

Psychology/Human Development
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• Child Development
  Part of the Macmillan Psychology Reference Series, this title covers issues related to human development from conception through adolescence. Written for the general reader.

Science
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• Beacham’s Guide to the Endangered Species of North America
  Presents extensive data on the habitats and ecosystems of more than 1,200 species identified as endangered or threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Arranged taxonomically, entries include introductory information with an image of the species; a summary section detailing information on each species; a concluding summary of recovery efforts; and a bibliography of contacts for further information.
   
• Biology
  A comprehensive collection of articles on all aspects of biological science, including its history and issues. Includes articles on biology-related careers and important individuals, as well as topics from active transport to zoology research. Amply illustrated with full-color photos and line drawings. Glossary illuminates scientific terms.
   
• Encyclopedia of Bioethics
  This edition is a complete revision of the Dartmouth Medal-winning set first published in 1995. Covering a wealth of topics on the ethics of health professions, animal research, population control and the environment, the set helps researchers to consider the impact of new scientific knowledge and its potential to harm or benefit present and future generations.
   
• U*X*L Encyclopedia of Landforms and Other Geologic Features
  Focuses on the physical and geological aspects, structure, and features of 48 of the earth's landforms - what they are, how they look, how they were created, how they change over time, and major geological events associated with them. Written for middle school students to support earth science and landform-related assignments, alphabetically arranged entries follow a standard and consistent subheaded format; range in length from 9 to 11 pages; and cover common and unusual landforms such as archipelago, estuary, isthmus, tributary, and many more.
   
• World of Earth Science
  This title in Thomson Gale's "World of" Series is a comprehensive guide to the concepts, theories, discoveries, pioneers, and issues relating to topics in earth science. Its encyclopedic approach offers approximately 650 entries in a convenient A-Z format, cross-reference headings, and is written in easy to understand language.

Sociology/Anthropology
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• Crime and Punishment in America Reference Library
  Covering the evolution of the American criminal justice system throughout history, Crime and Punishment in America Reference Library explores everything from juvenile justice to organized crime. Crime and Punishment in America: Almanac examines key topics, including moral and religious beliefs, economic implications of crime and punishment, penology and reform, changing attitudes towards violence, the death penalty and more. Crime and Punishment in America: Biographies includes entries on important figures, such as Jane Addams, Allan Pinkerton, Clarence Darrow, Senator Estes Kefauver, and others. Crime and Punishment in America: Primary Sources includes many documents, from the Sherman Antitrust Law and the Harrison Narcotic Drug Act to Eleanor Roosevelt's letter against lynching and the Report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement.
   
• Encyclopedia of Aging
  Written by experts for a general audience, articles cover topics such as biology, medicine, economics, law, psychology, sociology, and history as they relate to aging. Illustrated with photos, graphs, and line drawings.
   
• Encyclopedia of Community
  This encyclopedia covers topics such as types of communities, social capital, technology, urban life, politics and law, community design, and global studies.
   
• Encyclopedia of Homelessness
  Focuses on the current situation in the United States with a comparative sampling of homelessness around the world.
   
• Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History in America
  Provides a comprehensive survey of lesbian and gay history and culture in the United States. Includes approximately 545 articles ranging from short biographical entries to longer essays surveying topics such as the Stonewall riots, federal law and policy, same sex institutions, and HIV/AIDS.
   
• Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities
  The two-volume Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities aims to provide a critical overview of penal institutions within a historical and contemporary framework. The encyclopedia also contains biographies, articles describing important legal statutes, as well as detailed and authoritative descriptions of the major prisons in the United States.
   
• Encyclopedia of Sociology
  Winner of the 1993 Dartmouth Medal, this classic reference has been updated to reflect the many changes in society and in the field of sociology in recent years. Articles covering core issues such as race, poverty, violence, economics, pregnancy and abortion have been updated and expanded, and completely new articles have been written on topics such as the Internet, privacy, and epidemiology.