Use Reference Sources, such as encyclopedias, to get a general overview of your topic. They are not intended to be read cover-to-cover, but rather provide you with more concise information as you begin to explore a topic. Reference sources generally provide several things:

• Background information about a topic.
• Brief, factual overviews of topics.
• Information about important dates, events, and people associated with a topic.
• Terminology and definitions of terms related to a topic.
• Articles written by authors with exertise in the subject matter.
• Bibliographies of sources for further reading.

Different types of reference sources answer different types of questions.

Listed below are common types of reference sources for research in philosophy and the kind of information contained in each.

Click on the type of source to retrieve a list of titles owned by the Library.

• Atlas - Maps and geographical information.
• Dictionary - Definitions of terms, either general or in relation to a specific subject or discipline.
• Encyclopedia - Comprehensive summaries of factual information, providing more detail than a dictionary.

Search GIL, the Library Catalog to find additional reference sources in the Library.

The following online encyclopedias and dictionaries are available to you from both on- and off-campus. For off-campus access, use your University logon and password (the same logon/password you use to log onto the campus computer lab computers).

The following print encyclopedias and dictionaries are just a few of the sources you will find in in the Reference Section on the 2nd floor of Library North. Please contact me if you need help finding additional resources for your research.