NICC Library: Library Research: Learning About Your Topic

Selected Library Resources

Research Starters
Digital Reference Collections

You can use the library's "Multisearch" tab to find "research starters" on your topic. These offer general overviews of popular subjects you may have chosen to research. Just type in your search terms.

For examples see below:

Bullying
Climate Change
Research Starter: "Climate Change Theories"
Drug Abuse
Research Starter: "Drug Abuse and Addiction"
Social Media

Start Research

Use some of these digital reference collections to gain basic background information on your topic. Learning basic facts, controversial issues, and key terms will aid you in your more in-depth searching later on in our article indexes and subject databases.

Bartleby.com Reference & General eBooks
An online ebook collection. Mostly literary resources.

CredoReference This link opens in a new window
Ready-references on history, computer & medical dictionaries, etc. Includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and a range of subject-specific titles covering everything from art to accountancy and literature to law.
Over 500 electronic reference books including biographies, dictionaries, and encyclopedias in the humanities, social sciences and physical sciences.
Encyclopaedia Britannica This link opens in a new window
General knowledge English-language encyclopaedia.
Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research:
BROWSE ALL TITLES or click below for individual resources.

Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia
Business Plans Handbook, Vol. 1--Vol. 30
Alternative Energy, 2nd ed., 3v
Americans at War, 4v --
Career Information Center, 10th ed., 16v
Climate Change, 2v
Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 4th ed., 4v
Encyclopedia of Emerging Markets
Environmental Encyclopedia, 4th ed., 2v
Gale E-Commerce Sourcebook, 2v
Gale Encyclopedia of E-Commerce, 2v
A Student Guide to Climate and Weather, 5v
Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new window
Guide to the meaning, history and pronunciation of more than half a million words.
Oxford Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window
A collection of handbooks areas across many different subject areas. The Handbook series contains in-depth, high-level articles by scholars at the top of their field, and brings together the leading scholars to discuss research and the latest thinking on a range of major topics. Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. Handbook articles review the key issues and cutting-edge debates, as well as providing arguments for how those debates might evolve.
New URL: https://academic-oup-com.nicc.idm.oclc.org/pages/oxford-handbooks
Old URL: http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Includes several hundred reference books in a variety of subject areas. Not all reference books are available to NICC users. Use the "by availability" to see those books available to NICC. Or click here to browse available collection.
Very Short Introductions This link opens in a new window
This book series offers concise introductions to a diverse range of subject areas.