The Credo Reference database has many dictionaries and encyclopedias available to you online. Use your student ID and PIN numbers to login.
Dictionaries and encyclopedias are types of general reference works that provide brief and concise factual information.
Use these subject-specific resources to get started on a research topic by exploring background information and finding key terms and concepts:
Why search here?This database provides access to background information and current events in Canada, including international content for research on Canada's global involvement.What's included?It holds biographies, images, and articles from leading Canadian publications such as Maclean's, Canadian Geographic, Bank of Canada Review, Canadian Manager, Walrus, and Chatelaine as well as key reference works like the Canadian Oxford Dictionary and Canadian Global Almanac.
Why search here?This database has up-to-date overviews of 185 topics in Canada, with point and counterpoint essays that help you understand it from multiple perspectives. It is an excellent resource for getting started on a research project or finding a topic for an assignment.What's included?Almost 800 balanced essays and background articles on key issues in Canadian society, such as climate change, medical marijuana, government policy, media bias, Aboriginal issues, and healthcare topics like assisted suicide, stem cell research, and mental health awareness.
Why search here?Literature Resource Center provides current biographical information, overviews, literacy criticism, and reviews for writers from all time periods and around the world.What's included?It contains biographies, interviews, portraits, works of literature, peer-reviewed articles from journals like the Midwest Quarterly,Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, and Textual Cultures, and critical essays for major works of literature. This includes over 135,000 authors from Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and similar reference works, essays and reviews from Contemporary Literary Criticism, Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, and Short Story Criticism, and over 30,000 poems, short stories, and plays.
Why search here?This database is a comprehensive resource with reliable introductory and background information in all subject areas, from business and environmental studies to health, psychology, and sociology. It's especially helpful for choosing a topic and getting started on a research project.What's included?It holds millions of articles from over 800 encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries, with an interactive "mind map" tool that allows you to explore concepts across entries, an image search option, and detailed topic overviews. Titles include Introductory to Security (2013), Key Concepts in Nursing (2008), Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health (2013), Dictionary of Youth Justice (2008), Cambridge Handbook of Psychology & Economic Behavior (2008), Key Concepts in Anti-Discriminatory Social Work (2010), Barron's Dictionary of Accounting Terms (2014), Handbook of Aging & the Social Sciences (2015), and Key Concepts in Early Childhood Education & Care (2011).
Why search here?World History in Context reaches back to the ancient world - and forward to today's headlines - to deliver a chronicle of how cultures and societies have evolved around the world. What's included?It holds more than 4000 primary source documents and maps, a topic-integrated image gallery, video and audio selections including archival newsreels, reference book entries organized by categories such as economics, biographies, and events, movements and cultural trends, and articles from publications like The Historian, Journal of World History, and Canadian Journal of History.
Why search here?DynaMED is a reference tool containing accurate, up-to-date summaries of peer-reviewed research findings in all areas of medicine and healthcare. All evidence is rigorously evaluated and topics are edited as new research evidence becomes available. What's included?Summaries of medical research published in over 500 academic journals, drug information, and practice guidelines that are continually updated by a team of physicians and healthcare professionals.
Why search here?NRC+ is an comprehensive evidence-based tool that helps nursing students and professionals incorporate the most current and reliable research findings into their practice.What's included?It contains nursing care plans, evidence-based care sheets, video demonstrations, and patient education information. It also includes content from CINAHL and EBSCO e-book databases, including chapters and full-text books, professional journals, and peer-reviewed articles from academic journals.
Why search here?Science Reference Center is a comprehensive teaching and learning resource aimed at high school and lower undergraduate students with academic and popular content in biology, chemistry, environment and ecology, math, physics, and the life sciences. What's included?It holds more than 500 streaming videos and animations, over 800 encyclopedias and reference works, almost 300,000 high-quality images from reliable sources such as Getty, NASA, and National Geographic, and thousands of essays and articles from scholarly and popular publications including American Scientist, The New Scientist, Nature, Science News, and Popular Science.
This U.S. government website provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 267 world entities.
Why search here?SMART Imagebase is a collection of over 30,000 high-quality illustrations and animations depicting anatomy, physiology, surgery, diseases, conditions, trauma, embryology, histology, and other health topics. Content is created by medical illustrators/animators and peer-reviewed by faculty at reputable institutions including Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Rochester Institute of Technology, and University of Toronto.What's included?It provides access to thousands of illustrations, narrated animations, 3D images, and interactive media as well as study resources like coloring book pages and human body lesson plans. Content can be viewed online or downloaded in multiple file formats (note: users must create a "personalized account" to download content).
Reference books and databases provide general, introductory and background information, which is helpful when beginning to explore and develop a research topic:
1) Encyclopedias
A collection of knowledge or branches of knowledge given in a comprehensive but easy-to-read and concise manner:
2) Dictionaries & Glossaries
An alphabetical list of words and terms that confirms spelling, pronunciation, etymology and/or definition.
3) Thesaurus
An alphabetical list of words and terms accompanied by synonyms and/or antonyms