These full-text reference sources - specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc. - are available online to students, faculty and staff of TAMU-CC.
These sources are useful when you don't know a lot about a topic. They give good overviews and background information on many topics related to education.
This link opens in a new windowThese books are available in the Reference Department on the first floor of Bell Library. If you need any assistance in locating these materials, please feel free to visit the Ask Us or Circulation desks.
Use reference sources to read an overview of your topic. Gain some background information and learn the terminology used in discussing your research topic. Move on from reference sources to literature reviews to read summaries of the primary research done on your topic.
Google and Wikipedia are great places to start your research! Finding background information and identifying keyword and phrases that relate to your topic are important parts of the research process, and Google and Wikipedia are perfect tools for that!
After Google and Wikipedia have given you some insight into the language used to talk about your topic, identify some keywords and use them in library databases.