Research Guides: Town Hall Research Guide: Background Sources

What is background research?

Remember: Research is not about what you already know. It's the process of discovering and interpreting information from reliable sources.

Use the sources on this page to:

Learn the basics about your topic.
Choose a specific aspect of your topic to write about.
- For example: "The long-term psychological impact on victims of human trafficking" is a better topic than "Human trafficking."

In depth reports

Search or browse for your topic. Most reports feature full bibliographies, which you can use as additional sources, as well as relevant organizations.

ProCon.org
Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, and primarily pro-con format.

Find a Book

The library has books on your topic. Search by keyword, then filter your search results by Format (book) and Year.

WorldCat Discovery This link opens in a new window
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Search for your topic, in the keyword field, unless you know a specific title or author. Narrow your search by books and ebooks, date, topic, and more.

Streaming Film

Academic Video Online (AVON) This link opens in a new window
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Streaming videos covering most academic subjects
Films On Demand This link opens in a new window
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Thousands of streaming videos, collected for academic use. Most videos provide citation and transcripts.

Online encyclopedias & dictionaries

These are collections of online encyclopedias and reference books. Use these for general information on your topic.

Oxford Reference Online - Premium Edition This link opens in a new window
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Short-entry, general reference & more in-depth articles on specialized subjects from over 140 specialized dictionaries and reference works.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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Full-text reference books in all subject areas, with downloadable entries

Charts & Infographics

Statista This link opens in a new window
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Now including Consumer Insights! Quantitative data and data visualizations on media, business, finance, politics, and other topics

Let's talk about Wikipedia

Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a great first step in research: it tells you what things are.

Anyone can edit a Wikipedia entry, so it's not as reliable as other encyclopedias, which are edited by experts. Use Wikipedia to narrow your topic and learn the basics, but find a more trustworthy source to cite in your projects.