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Communication: Explore a Topic

Find Background Information

Good places to find background information:
  • Your textbook or class readings
  • Encyclopedias and reference books
  • Credible websites
  • And of course ...

Communication Reference Sources

Are there books on your topic?

When a reference tool is too broad, it can be useful to seek out a book.

Important Considerations
  • Is there a specific area within the broader topic that you're curious about or even irked by?
  • Is there a cause-effect relationship that you're curious about?
  • Look for unanswered questions.
  • Are there time periods or groups of people within the discipline that strike a chord for you?
  • If you think you've got a topic worth writing about, try to explain it informally to a friend. Are there gaps in what you know? Did any questions come up?

Book Databases

More Reference Databases

  • Britannica Online Academic Edition

    More than 120,000 up-to-date articles, dictionary entries, maps, primary sources, biographies, media, and current news

  • Caselaw Access Project

    Their goal is to make all published U.S. court decisions freely available to the public online in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law School Library and including volumes published through 2018.

  • Credo Reference

    Hundreds of encyclopedias, dictionaries, quotations, and subject-specific titles

  • eBook Central

    Catalog of authoritative titles from leading publishers, as well as a wide selection of focused or multidiscpinary pre-packaged ebook collections

  • Niche Academy

    Platform to create and library of training modules.

  • Oxford English Dictionary

    Find definitions and histories of individual words, and of the language

  • Oxford Reference

    From short-entry, general reference to more in-depth articles on specialized subjects, articles, illustrations, photographs, line diagrams, maps, and tables

  • Physical Reference Data from the Physical Measurement Laboratory

    PML develops and disseminates the national standards of length, mass, force and shock, acceleration; time and frequency; electricity, temperature, humidity,
    pressure and vacuum; liquid and gas flow; and electromagnetic, optical, microwave, acoustic, ultrasonic, and ionizing radiation.

     

  • Research Companion

    How-to tutorials on research, evaluation, and writing

  • Research Library

    One of the broadest, most inclusive general reference databases ProQuest has to offer.

  • SIRS Issues Researcher

    Background and current analysis necessary for research and understanding of issues

  • World Factbook

    Provides basic intelligence on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, environment, communications, transportation, military, terrorism, and transnational issues

Handbooks, Encyclopedias, & Dictionaries