Collins Memorial Library: History 369: History of the West & Pacific Northwest: Getting Started

Reference Resources for the History of the West & Pacific Northwest

These resources provide overviews of topics and suggestions for further reading.

Encyclopedia of the American West by Charles Phillips (Editor); Alan Axelrod (Editor)
Call Number: Print Reference F591 .E485 1996
Publication Date: 1996
Offering biographies, articles on the history of the entire range of Westward Expansion topics and overview entries on complex topics, the 4-vol. Encyclopedia examines events, organizations and social customs that shaped the American West.
Encyclopedia of Immigration and Migration in the American West by Gordon Morris Bakken (Editor); Alexandra Kindell (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access.
Publication Date: 2006-02-24

Historylink: The Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
"HistoryLink.org is the continually evolving online encyclopedia of Washington state history. We provide a free, authoritative, and easily accessible reference for the benefit of all. With a few noted exceptions, all articles on this site are original works prepared exclusively for HistoryLink.org by staff historians, contract writers, volunteers, and consulting experts."

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the United States by Suzanne Oboler (Editor); Deena J. González (Editor)
Call Number: Click the title above for online access.
Publication Date: 2009
The Encyclopedia draws together the diverse historical and contemporary experiences in the United States of Latinos and Latinas. Entries address such broad topics as identity, art, politics, religion, education, health, and history. Each entry has its own bibliography and cross-references and is signed by its author.

Selected Scholarly Journals

When you are researching a specific topic, it is best to use subject databases to discover the full range of scholarship on a topic. However, when you wish to simply explore the field, it can be very useful to browse through journals that are specifically oriented to the topic at hand.

Western Historical Quarterly
Full text available from 1996 forward. Earlier issues are available full text in JSTOR.
Pacific Historical Review
Includes articles on the history of the North American Pacific coast and Hawaii as well as the history of pan-Pacific relations. Full text available from 2001 forward; back files available through JSTOR.
Pacific Northwest Quarterly
Back files available in JSTOR, with an embargo on the most recent six years. To access the most recent issues, come to Collins Library to consult the print issues, which are shelved just off of the Circulation Desk on the first floor.
American Indian Quarterly
Nearly every issue includes articles relevant to the study of the history of the west and Pacific Northwest. Full text available from several databases.