Research Guides: ENGL 1120: Background Info Databases

Need Background Info?

If you're not sure if you need to do background research, take a look at Research Byte #1: Finding Background Information.

Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
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This is a collection of encyclopedias and is a great place to look for basic background info about your topic. It is also a good place to find ways to narrow down your topic. For example, "climate change" is a pretty big topic. If you look up "climate change" in this database, you can find different aspects of climate change to help narrow.
Community researchers in New Mexico can access this resource at http://go.galegroup.com/ps/start.do?p=GVRL&u=nm_p_elportal

Wikipedia
While you may not cite Wikipedia in your paper, this is a really helpful way to get a general sense of your topic. It may also give you ideas about how to narrow your topic. Keep a lookout for keywords you can bring back to the library databases to help you search.

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
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Contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues.
Oxford Very Short Introductions This link opens in a new window
Very Short Introductions offer concise introductions to a diverse range of subjects from Climate to Consciousness, Game Theory to Ancient Warfare, Privacy to Islamic History, Economics to Literary Theory. Note: only one person can use this at a time. Please log out when you're done.
1-concurrent user.
CQ Researcher Online This link opens in a new window
Check here for current issues and news.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
A research starting point for students looking for background information to inform their topic. With millions of articles pulled from hundreds of books, Credo is a general knowledge database providing articles, images, charts, maps and other materials on thousands of topics.

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