LibGuides: FYW: Writing Nature & Reimagining the World: Find Background

How to Find & Maximize Reference Sources

Find background sources in the catalog by adding your keyword(s) to this reference-specific search:

References sources, particularly specialized encyclopedias, offer many benefits. Consider the following tips as you review a reference source on your topic to reap all the benefits and make your researching even better.

Get definitions and background - Reference sources assume that you are new to a topic. Jargon and specialized terminology will be explained and contextualized, which you might not get in more advanced books and journal articles.
Get caught-up on a topic - Research is a conversation, and often it's been going on for years. Reference sources will provide a historical background and identify key developments to help you understand how we got to the current understandings and theories.
Identify key people and theories - Who are the most important people and ideas on your topic? Reference sources will help you identify them so you can explore them more deeply.
Find more sources - Reference sources will provide additional reading, usually in the form of references or background lists. These are a great next-step in your research process.

Ebooks

Use the box below to search Furman University and PASCAL for ebooks related to your topic.

Use the box below to search all of the ebooks available through GALE.

Reference Sources

Biography (Gale In Context)
Combines over 280,000 biographies from sources such as Contemporary Authors, Encyclopedias of World Biography, Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Contemporary Musicians, Historic World Leaders, Notable Twentieth-Century Scientists, Contemporary Black Biography, Religious Leaders of America, International Dictionary of Art and Artists; and many more, with full-text articles from more than 250 periodicals including American History, The Christian Century, U.S. News & World Report.
Credo Reference
Provides access to more than 1300 titles, covering every major subject - from art to medicine, psychology to history, and technology to literature.
Music Online: Reference
Brings together a variety of essential music reference materials, spanning the entire history of Western classical music, in a unified online database. Included are the authoritative reference titles The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Baker’s Dictionary of Music, Baker’s Bibliographical Dictionary of Musicians, and Baker’s Student Encyclopedia of Music.

Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings
From John Philip Sousa to Green Day, from Scott Joplin to Kanye West, from Stephen Foster to Coldplay, The Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings covers the vast scope of its subject with virtually unprecedented breadth and depth. Approximately 1,000 key song recordings from 1889 to 2013 are explored in full, unveiling the stories behind the songs, the recordings, the performers, and the songwriters.