Reference materials are designed to provide overviews on a topic, or give recommendations on where else to find information, or to provide a short burst of general information on a topic. These materials include dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, and bibliographies. Our physical collection of reference materials are on the main floor, but most are currently online. NOTE: reference sources are often written by experts, but are not considered peer reviewed articles/chapters. They are meant to direct you to peer reviewed literature, not serve as a substitution for it.
These are some key reference resources:
This link opens in a new windowIn the library catalog, search your topic keyword in one box, then in the second search:
(Dictionar* OR encyclopedia OR handbook)
Be sure to limit results to books and ebooks
You can also use a normal search for your topic, then limit your results to "Reference Entries"
Example:
Though many of our print encyclopedias have been replaced with digital editions, we still have quite a few volumes in the main library. Start in the call number D section.
