Reference Collection

The Reference Department maintains an extensive collection of online and print reference materials to support research in the fields of the social sciences, humanities, history, and business. These resources include subject bibliographies, dictionaries, indexes to scholarly resources, general and specialized encyclopedias, directories, citation manuals, catalogs of library and museum collections, atlases and more.

Online Reference Materials

• Biographies
• Citing Sources
• Dictionaries
• Encyclopedias
• Grammar and Usage
• Internet Guides
• Quick Facts
• Statistics
• Thesauri
• Google Scholar

Help navigating the collection

• Ask A Librarian
• Guides for finding materials

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For detailed help in specific areas you may wish to contact the following departments or libraries: Africana, Art, Government Information, Health Sciences, Law, Math, Music, Science and Engineering, Transportation, United Library, and University Archives.

*Our IM, text and e-mail services are intended for use by current students, faculty and staff of Northwestern University. We will also attempt to answer questions from the general public when they pertain to specific items in our libraries' collections, library services or to the university itself.