Why start here?
Why use background or tertiary resources?
- It's a quick overview of a theme, work, author, or other topic, which can save you time!
- Learn important terms for searching, identify notable scholars and/or works, and get more information about a topic.
- Bibliographies for further reading in the works cited sections can lead you to secondary sources you can use in the next phase of your research.
General context
Gale Virtual Reference LibraryCall Number: OnlineMany reference works, including multi-volume encyclopedias, biographical collections, business plan handbooks, company history compilations, consumer health references, and specialized handbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. in a wide range of subject areas. Subject categories include arts, biography, business, education, environment, history, law, literature, medicine, multicultural studies, nation and world, religion, science, and social sciences.
Oxford Bibliographies Online
Oxford Bibliographies Online:
Bibilographies of topics in many subject areas, with introductions to each topic area, and including guides to introductory works, textbooks, guidebooks, journals, reference works etc., and links to useful websites.
Offers peer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on specific topics in a growing range of subject areas. There are at least 50 specific topical bibliographies in each subject area. 
Reference Titles
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas by Call Number: Print and onlineISBN: 0684313774Publication Date: 2005
The Global Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) HistoryCall Number: Online onlyISBN: 9780684325545
Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experienceCall Number: Print copies in Olin and AfricanaPublication Date: Oxford Univ. Press, 2005
Encyclopedia of Black StudiesCall Number: Online
Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural TheoryCall Number: Online and print copiesPublication Date: Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011
Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity, and Society by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9781452265865Publication Date: 2008-03-20
Encyclopedia of Disasters, v.2 by Call Number: OnlineISBN: 9780313340048Publication Date: 2007-12-30
International Higher Education: an encyclopedia by Call Number: Olin Library LB15 .I59x 1991 +ISBN: 0824048474Publication Date: 1991-03-01
