Subject Guides: English 1101: Background Research

Background Research

Reference sources like encyclopedias and indexes are the best places to start research about a topic you don't know a lot about. This kind of Background Research can help you:

Understand the scope of a topic or issue
Identify subtopics you can use to narrow down your research
Find books and articles

Digital Reference Sources

Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Encyclopedia Britannica content and more
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Encyclopedias and other reference books on many subjects
Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
English dictionary that includes the history of words and when they were first used in print.
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Subject-specific dictionaries, bilingual English dictionaries, encyclopedias and other reference tools.