ENG 120 & ENG 200 Research Guide

What are Reference Materials? 

Reference material typically consists of background information and subject overviews that are found in encyclopedias and dictionaries. These are called "tertiary sources" as discussed in the previous tab.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries were traditionally published as large single or multi-volume tomes; today, many encyclopedias and dictionaries are published in electronic formats that can be accessed online.  Some are freely available on the Internet, and some are subscription databases accessed through the Library's website. 

Reference sources can be very broad in subject matter and scope, such as the Encyclopedia Britannica, or very narrow in scope, such as the Dictionary of Food: International Food and Cooking Terms from A to Z.  

Collaboratively produced encyclopedias, such as the online Wikipedia, can provide background information on a wide variety of scholarly and popular topics; however, because anyone can edit a wiki article and there is little or no editorial oversight, Wikipedia entries should be verified by reputable scholarly sources for university-level research. Wikipedia might be a place to begin your research to get the "big picture" on a topic, and to use the references listed to read about the topic, but Wikipedia would not be cited as a reference in a college-level paper.

Almost all research projects can be enhanced by first finding appropriate background material using reference resources.  

Where to find Reference Resources?

Below is a list of general and subject-specific reference resources available online either through a library subscription database or on the free Web. Other online encyclopedias and dictionaries can be found by searching in the Online Library Catalog or using the databases that Include Reference Materials.