Oxford LibGuides: Latin American History: Reference works

Information overload...?

Why use reference works?

Reference works are a good place to start for basic information on a topic. Using a carefully selected reference work for factual information is far more reliable than general online sources such as Wikipedia.

For example;

dates and summaries of significant events, such as the Mexican Revolution
biographical information, e.g. a profile of Fidel Castro
definitions of concepts and movements such as liberation theology, Sandinistas, Tupamaros

Online sources

CREDO Reference
Credo provides access to 250 published reference works, including general and specialised encyclopaedias, dictionaries and biographies.
Cambridge History of Latin America
This 11 volume work is a key title for the study of history in the Latin American region. Arranged chronologically, the chapters chart the development of Latin American from pre-colonial times to the present day. Print copies are also available in the Upper Camera (S.HIST.19.1.122) and the Taylor Institution.

Printed bibliographies

A bibliography is essentially a list of books, often arranged by subject, region, language or time period. Bibliographies are an excellent way to discover and review the literature of a given topic or area. The following are all available in Oxford libraries:

Latin American Studies : a basic guide to sources by R.A. McNeil, B.G. Valk (eds.)
ISBN: 0810822369
This excellent work contains a list of subject bibliographies for history, as well as national bibliographies for individual Latin American countries, and a special list of bibliographies of early publications; the printing press was active in Latin America from the early 16th century!
A bibliography of Latin American bibliographies by compiled by Arthur E. Gropp
A specialist bibliography of bibliographies. Later supplements have also been issued to keep the work up-to-date.
Latin American history : a guide to the literature in English by R. A. Humphreys
Useful for those who want to review the available literature in English rather than Spanish or Portuguese, this wide-ranging guide covers social science topics as well as history.
Reference materials on Latin America in English : the humanities by Richard D. Woods
ISBN: 0810812940
Arranged alphabetically by author, with a subject index.
Latin America and the Caribbean : a critical guide to research resources by Paula H. Covington
ISBN: 0313264031