Finding Background Sources
It's often useful to get look at overviews or background on your subject before you jump into searching for more specific articles. Books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and overview sites and sources can all help you with this. But where do you start for these? Books and reports in the Library Catalog are good for background, broad overviews and more general considerations of a subject.
Encyclopedias: You can find reference sources by choosing Databases and the Dictionaries and Encyclopedias category OR
You can search the Library catalog in Advanced Search for:
encyclopedia handbook guide (any) as Subjects
+YOUR TOPIC as Keywords
Books: A Keyword search for the general terms or subject areas you are interested in can help you find general overviews of the subject. Once you find at least one useful resource, a look at the subject headings can give you more
su:Agriculture COUNTRY NAME
su:Rural development COUNTRY NAME
su:Watershed management COUNTRY NAME
su: CROP COUNTRY NAME
Background resources on the web: These can give you quick answers understandable to laypeople and some useful context and ideas for other search terms but always verify sources and evaluate what you find! See our guides to evaluating web sites
- Google: define:TERM (e.g. define:IPM)
- Wikipedia: Check references at the end to verify source and look at the Talk page to find the article's quality rating (if it's part of WikiProject) or debates that are going on
- Specialized subject portals
Useful Background Resources
- FAO Country Profiles"The FAO Country Profiles and Mapping Information System is a pioneering information retrieval tool which groups the organization's vast archive of information on its global activities in agriculture and development in a single area and catalogues it exclusively by country."
- CIA World FactbookThe World Factbook provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.
- World Bank DataThe data catalog provides download access to over 2,000 indicators from World Bank sources.
- Crop ExplorerUSDA Foreign Agricultural Service's site for international crop-related information
- USDA Foreign Agricultural Service"The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) links U.S. agriculture to the world to enhance export opportunities and global food security."
Looking for Books on a Topic?
Looking for books on a topic? See this tutorial on searching the library catalog to see how to do a very general keyword search for your subject in the library catalog, find a relevant book, check under Availability to see how you can access it in print (look for the library, call number [book location] and availability) or online (look for the full text link), and find the subject headings.
