Gathering background information on your topic is a great way to start any research assignment. By looking through encyclopedias, handbooks, and other reference materials, you can usually find the following information very quickly:
- Brief overview of your topic
- Key concepts, people, dates, and events
- Lists of sources for further reading and bibliographies that may lead you to additional sources
You can search for online reference entries following these simple steps:
- From the library’s web page, click on the Advanced Search tab
- Click on Sign in
- Enter your search terms
- Click on SEARCH
- Scroll down to the area on the screen that says Refine your results (on the left hand side of the screen)
- Click on resource type
- Limit your search to reference entries by clicking on the box next to these terms
- Review your results
Additionally, you can check out the reference databases listed below.