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History of Disability Guide

Get Started with Reference Sources

When researching a new topic it is often necessary to get an overview, explanations of unfamiliar terms, or brief factual information. The print and electronic resources listed below include selected reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, guides, and standards) for the field of Caribbean History. To find additional reference materials, check UNB WorldCat (the library catalogue) or our Reference Materials database. 

  • Encyclopedia of American disability history [HIL-REF HV1553 .E523 2009]

    This work focuses on the importance of disability in American history, the need to explain disability in historical rather than medical terms, and the varieties and similarities of the historical experiences among those with disabilities. It thus succeeds in bringing to the forefront something that has typically gone unnoticed, allowing us to understand America in new ways by looking at it through a specific lens.

  • Encyclopedia of Disability [HIL-REF HV1568 .E528 2006]

    Offers a multidisciplinary, multicultural look at a vast array of disability issues. More than 500 international scholars have contributed entries that span the globe and the centuries, from the Pleistocene era to the present.

  • International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2nd Ed.)
    see also [HIL-REF H41 .I58 2001 vols. 1-26]
    Fully revised and updated, the second edition of the International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, first published in 2001, offers a source of social and behavioral sciences reference material that is broader and deeper than any other. Available in both print and online editions, it comprises over 3,900 articles, commissioned by 71 Section Editors, and includes 90,000 bibliographic references as well as comprehensive name and subject indexes.

    UNB has online access to the 2001 edition as well as owning print volumes of the earlier edition.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online
    Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online "is a vast new online library giving instant access to the most authoritative and up-to-date scholarship across the humanities and social sciences. With more than 350 reference volumes to be published in Blackwell Reference Online by the end of 2008, it is the largest academic reference collection available online and includes the critically-acclaimed Blackwell Companions and Handbooks, major reference works such as the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management and the Companion to Syntax, and a whole host of other valuable reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias and concise companions."
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Cambridge world history of medical ethics

    This is the first comprehensive scholarly account of the global history of medical ethics. Offering original interpretations of the field by leading bioethicists and historians of medicine, it will serve as the essential point of departure for future scholarship in the field.
  • Cambridge World History of Human Disease

    Combining recent medical discoveries with historical and geographical scholarship, this is the most comprehensive history of human disease since August Hirsch's monumental Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology in 1880. Accessible to laypeople and specialists alike, The Cambridge World History of Human Disease explores the patterns of disease throughout the world as well as the variety of approaches that different medical traditions have used to fight it. The volume traces the concept of disease as medicine developed from an art to a science, then addresses the history of disease in each major world region. The final and largest part offers the history and geography of each significant human disease - both historical and contemporary - from AIDS to yellow fever. A truly interdisciplinary history, it includes contributions from over 160 medical and social scientists from across the globe. Together with The Cambridge World History of Food (2000), The Cambridge World History of Human Disease provides an extraordinary glimpse of what is known about human health as the twenty-first century begins.

  • Routledge History of Disability [HIL-REF HV1552 .R69 2018]

    "Taking a truly global view of disability history, The Routledge History of Disability brings together an impressive range of scholarship that places the lives of individuals with disabilities in their social, cultural and historical context. Moving beyond the national or local focus of many disability histories, and exploring a variety of impairments, The Routledge History of Disability provides a means for examining disability history comparatively, shedding new light on how social policy, education and civil rights have evolved in different parts of the world."David Turner, Swansea University, UK

    "This book is timely and phenomenal in nationally and internationally highlighting historical events that have affected disabled people. It exposes the origins of issues and controversies about disability, interpreting historical documents and legislation and discussing significant topics such as the eugenics movement and the civil rights movement."Irene Carter, University of Windsor, Canada 

Find Books

To search for books at UNB Libraries, first use the library's online catalogue, UNB WorldCat. UNB WorldCat contains materials held at the Harriet Irving, Science and Forestry, Engineering and Computer Science, and Law libraries, as well as the HW Klohn Learning Commons in Saint John. It can be used to look for material beyond UNB Libraries' holdings, and includes *some* journal article citations as well.

Search UNB WorldCat:
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Other Library Catalogues

WorldCat FirstSearch - This database provides references to secondary and reprinted primary material: journal articles, books, dissertations, conference proceedings and is especially useful for finding archival material at libraries around the world. It provides holdings information (but not the circulation status) for UNB Libraries.

New Brunswick Public Library Service - Serving 62 public libraries and 4 bookmobiles across New Brunswick with more than 1.8 million items.

Document Delivery

Books and other materials not available at UNB may be available for loan from another institution through our document delivery service. To search for materials not held by UNB Libraries, search UNB WorldCat, and change the default UNB Libraries to Libraries Worldwide. Once you have identified a title that is not locally held, select the red Request Item button and follow the screens. You can also access the document delivery request form directly.

Find Journal Articles

While it is possible to do a limited search for journal articles from UNB WorldCat, when searching for journal articles, an indexing and abstracting database or print index is usually the best place to begin. Below are some recommended print indexes and databases for research in Atlantic World History. For other databases, check the Article Databases tab on the library website.

Key Resources

  • America: History and Life (EBSCO)
    "America: History & Life is the definitive index of literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada, from prehistory to the present. With indexing for 1,700 journals from 1964 to present ... The database also includes citations and links to book and media reviews."--Database information page.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
    "Historical Abstracts is an exceptional resource that covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more ... Provides indexing of more than 1,700 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955."--Database information page.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Periodicals Archive Online (PAO - ProQuest)
    "Periodicals Archive Online is a major online periodical archive that makes the backfiles of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences available electronically, providing access to the full text of a growing number of digitized periodicals that have been indexed in its sister database, Periodicals Index Online."--About page.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • JSTOR Current Collection
    In addition to being an archive, JSTOR offers current access to a range of titles from various publishers. UNB has access to current and archival content for almost 50 of these journals.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.

Additional Resources

  • Academic Search Premier (EBSCO)
    Academic Search Premier is a multidisciplinary resource that "provides journal coverage for most academic areas of studies."
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Dissertations & Theses (ProQuest PQDT)
    ProQuest Dissertations and Theses "is the single, authoritative source for information about doctoral dissertations and master's theses. The database represents the work of authors from over 1,000 graduate schools and universities."

    All PhD dissertations and Master's theses from depositing universities are available from 1997 onwards, unless the document's author has requested a temporary delay.

    It is also possible to search within an interface exclusive to Dissertations & Theses @ University of New Brunswick.

    For UNB theses submitted after 2012, please consult UNB’s institutional repository, UNB Scholar, or the library catalogue, UNBWorldCat.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.

  • EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service : UK Theses)
    EThOS makes UK theses (e and paper based) available via a 'one-stop-shop' by harvesting e-theses from institutional repositories and digitizing paper theses on-demand from researchers. The British Library, in collaboration with many UK universities and other associations, aims to provide over 250,000 theses produced by the UK higher education system on an open access model to all researchers and others requiring information. Some theses are available for immediate download, while others can be requested from a participating institution which then sends the thesis to the British Library for digitization.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • HeinOnline
    HeinOnline is a comprehensive database of U.S. and international law journals, treatises, yearbooks, reports, cases, treaties, and other legal information resources. Organized into collections called “libraries,” all documents are image-based, full-text searchable PDFs. Most of HeinOnline’s libraries are searchable by citation.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Iter - Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
    A bibliography covering the period 400-1700. Citations are drawn from journals, books, conference proceedings, festschriften, encyclopedias and exhibition catalogues.
    Unlimited simultaneous users.
  • Medline (1950 to Present)
    "MEDLINE® is the United States National Library of Medicine's (NLM®) premier bibliographic database providing information from the following fields: Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, Veterinary medicine, Allied health, and Pre-clinical sciences. As well, MEDLINE is the primary source of global information from international literature on biomedicine, including the following topics as they relate to biomedicine and health care: Biology, Environmental science, Marine biology, Plant and animal science, Biophysics, and Chemistry."
    50 simultaneous OLRN users.

 

Find Primary Sources

Primary sources can be found in UNB WorldCat, our catalogue, by combining a search for your topic with a search for the subject, "sources". For instance, if you are looking for primary material about blindness, you would use the Advanced Search screen to search for the word or phrase "blindness" and the subject "sources".

The following online collections include primary source material:

 

Citing your Sources

Accurate, properly formatted footnotes, reading lists, and bibliographies are hallmarks of good academic research. Through citing, you acknowledge the source of any ideas you mention in your writing, document your research, and provide the information your readers need to track down your sources.

Numerous citation styles exist, and each specifies what elements are required (title, author, journal name, etc.) and how the citation should be formatted. The standard citation style for History is Chicago, but your instructor may require or recommend that you use another. Consult your course syllabus or check with your instructor to be sure of using the correct citation style for your assignment.