Beginning Your Research @ Your Library

Making a list of relevant keywords is an important first step to take before you begin your research. Watch this 3-minute video to learn how to identify key concepts and generate keyword lists for your topic:

By reading some background information you will get a clearer idea about your topic and may also get ideas about more specific directions for your research. Many of these sources also include bibliographies that you can use to find additional and more specific information on your topic. 

Do you need a brief summary about an event, person, or even a concept?  Encyclopedias and dictionaries are great resources to use to find background information.  Our libraries' collections include numerous encyclopedias and dictionaries, many of which are subject-specific, in both print and electronic  formats.

Image by: flickr user Kris Williams

Wikipedia is a free, collaborative encyclopedia that anyone can edit.  You may find it useful to check Wikipedia to familiarize yourself with a topic that you beginning to work with.  In particular, Wikipedia may provide good coverage of current technologies, events, and popular culture.  Remember that anyone can make a contribution to Wikipedia, and it is continually evolving.  Wikipedia is not a scholarly resource, and it is not appropriate for academic use.  For more reliable background information of a scholarly nature, try one of the suggested electronic resources in the next column or one our other online reference resources (link below).

Find reliable background information quickly and easily by using one of the library's electronic reference resources (like dictionaries and encyclopedias).  These are available for current UAS students, faculty, and staff, so you will need to login with your UA username and password if you are off-campus.

If you are looking for general print encyclopedias in the library, you will find them in the Reference collection shelved with call numbers beginning AE. 

If you would like to use a subject specific print dictionary or encyclopedia, search our library catalog (your search may also include results for these books in electronic format).  Try adding some of your broader keywords to "encyclopedia" or "dictionary" to see if we have works specifically related to your topic.  For example, climate change encyclopedia.

You might be surprised what you discover when browsing the shelves or leafing through a reference book!

Gale Ebooks is an online collection of reference resources, like encyclopedias and dictionaries, that is useful for finding background information and is an academic alternative to Wikipedia.  See our Egan Research Minute on Gale Ebooks (below) to learn more.

Search Gale Ebooks here: