Specialized reference sources--like dictionaries and subject encyclopedias, provide overviews of topics and descriptions of concepts and ideas. They can also provide definitions, statistics, and other details. You can use this type of source to help narrow your research topic, find data to support your thesis, and identify keywords and main ideas to use as search terms.
This page includes some of the most relevant resources for this class. But be sure to browse the shelves in the Reference Collection to find more.
- Brill Online Reference Works: Offers online access to books and journals in the fields of African Studies, History, Classical Studies, Middle East and Islamic Studies, International Relations, Law, Asian Studies, Biblical Studies, Jewish Studies, Language and Linguistics, Religious Studies.
- Oxford Reference: Provides web access to 100 major Oxford University Press dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference works in the humanities, social sciences, foreign languages, science, technology and medicine, the performing arts, and religion. Works can be searched separately or across the entire databases. Includes over 1.5 million entries.
- Credo Reference: 798 online reference resources from numerous publishers. This reference resource can be searched by individual title, broad subject headings, cross-references, audio and images.