Simpson Library has numerous subject encyclopedias specifically on disasters (man-made, natural, at sea, etc.). In addition, of course, it has numerous subject encyclopedias/dictionaries on broader topics that relate to disasters, e.g., on political, economic, scientific/technological, social history and on periods in American history. (To show you what is available for your use–and to save you time and stress: the library has at least one reference work each on Chicago, big-city mayors, FEMA, fire, North American trees, disease [broadly], National Flood Insurance, railroads, aviation. Plus, it has numerous reference works on weather and climate.)
In selecting a topic for the course project, students should take full advantage of the information (and bibliographies) provided by these valuable sources.
If you do not know how to locate them, use the History “Research Guide” and then “Locating Background Information” as a start. Also, reference librarians are always available.
On your own, you can do an “advanced search” of the library’s catalog, typing in, for example, “weather” in the first line (“has all of these words”) and “dictionary encyclopedia bibliography” in the third line (“has at least one of these words”).
