One good first step in research is to gather background information on your topic. Or, perhaps you have a few topics in mind and want to read a little bit about each one before making a choice. Reference sources, particularly the subject encyclopedias, are a good place to begin. They're terrific at laying out basic information about a topic: a chronicle of its history; current status; theory or philosophy; key people; and most importantly, a bibliography of additional sources.
Reference sources will vary depending on your specific topic. A selection is listed here.
The Reader's companion to American history (online and print)
Main Ref E174 .R43 1991
American History Now (online and print)
Oxford History of the American West (print)
Main Lib Ref F591 .O95 1994
The new encyclopedia of the American West (print)
Main Ref F591 .N46 1998
The Plains and Rockies: A Critical Bibliography of Exploration, Adventure, and Travel in the American West, 1800-1865 (print)
Main Libr F591 .W34 1982
Historical Atlas of the American West
Main Ref folio G1381.S1 B4 1989
Companion encyclopedia of geography : the environment and humankind (online and print)
Main Ref G116 .C645 1996
Environmental encyclopedia (print)
Main Ref GE10 .E38 2003
Historical dictionary of North American environmentalism (print)
Sci Ref GE10 .W45 1997
The Oxford handbook of environmental history, 2014 (print and online)
Reserve GF13 .O84 2014
Down to earth: Nature's role in American history (print and online, online is 2013 version)
Indigenous peoples and environmental issues: An encyclopedia (print)
About 50 pages on the U.S.
Main Ref GF50 .J65 2003
The Columbia guide to American environmental history, 2012. (print and online)
Reserve GF501 .M47 2002
Encyclopedia of immigration and migration in the American West (print)
Main Ref HB1965 .E53 2006
Encyclopedia of environment and society (print)
Main Ref HM856 .E53 2007 5 vols.
The Oxford encyclopedia of American social history, 2012 (online)
Encyclopedia of American social history (print)
Main Ref HN57 .E58 1993
Encyclopedia of women in the American West (print and online)
Main Ref HQ1438.W45 E53 2003
World Encyclopedia of Cities, Vols. 1 and 2, North America (print)
Main Ref HT108.5 .K87 1994
Encyclopedia of Urban America: The Cities and the Suburbs (print)
Main Ref HT123 .E5 1998
Encyclopedia of American Urban History (print)
Main Ref HT123 .E49 2007
Historical Statistics of the United States.
Comprehensive, searchable collection of statistics, including 37,000+ data sets that can be downloaded. A historical supplement to the Statistical Abstract of the United States. A great place to start looking for data. Footnotes to tables lead you to more detailed or more current data. The introduction to each section provides a helpful summary of major sources. Previous editions are available from the Census Bureau, HathiTrust, and elsewhere online and in print.
