The American Library Association's Glossary of Library and Information Science defines a reference source as:
“Any source used to obtain authoritative information in a reference transaction. Reference sources can include printed materials, but are not limited to databases, media, the Internet, other libraries and institutions, and persons both inside and outside the library” (Levine-Clark & Carter, 2012).
You need some basic background knowledge of your topic in order to develop a research question or thesis statement. By familiarizing yourself with the topic, you will have a better chance of conducting efficient research, using relevant sources and appropriate search terms.
Use encyclopedias, dictionaries, and online reference sources to start familiarizing yourself with your topic.
For more about this process, see "Working Knowledge" in the Conducting Research LibGuide.
"You have a working knowledge of a topic when you can talk about it for one minute without repeating yourself" (Badke, p.28)
Using general reference sources is a great strategy to build a working knowledge.
We build a working knowledge by using encyclopedias and dictionaries, two of the most common reference resources.
You could even think of Wikipedia as a type of reference source, but crowd-sourced and unsecured, so we may not want to cite it directly. If there are credible references in the footnotes, feel free to follow those back to the source of origin!
Dictionaries are books that provide definitions for terms or phrases. These can be great to use if you need to define terms or concepts that help introduce your readers to topics in your paper. They are organized alphabetically and can be both general and subject-specific. This means you could find a dictionary that is catered entirely to your topic! Badke (2017) suggests that dictionaries are the second most helpful resource for a researcher to build a working knowledge.
Encyclopedias summarize basic knowledge about a variety of topics, phenomena, and time periods. They are like the original Wikipedia and are written by experts and scholars in various fields. Encyclopedias can be both general and subject-specific. You can use encyclopedias to get basic high-level information on parts of your topic. You can also cite encyclopedia articles in order to bring your readers onto the same page, creating a baseline for how you introduce topics throughout your paper.
When you are searching for dictionaries or encyclopedias related to your topic in OneSearch, keep these strategies in mind:
A great student oriented database with current events, consumer health, and career information. Topic overviews, reports, biographies, journal articles, and more. Education majors can access Curriculum Standards.
This well-known dictionary includes definitions, an audio pronunciation guide, a word history and more. Search words by subject categories and country of origin.
Not just an online encyclopedia, Britannica Academic includes research tools such as an interactive world atlas and a country comparison. It also provides important current news articles, and plenty of primary sources for your research. A great source for the beginning stages of your research.
Use this online encyclopedia for summaries of topics, or to explore topics when starting research. Provided by Ebsco, the database offers all the convenient functions including ability to listen to an article, as well as quickly saving an article to Google Drive.
