Online Encyclopedias
Below are a few places you can find definitions and encyclopedia articles; from off campus you will have to login with your myNOVA username and password.
- Britannica Academic This link opens in a new windowFully-searchable collection of authoritative encyclopedia articles. (NVCC)
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowA collection of over 500 reference books on a variety of topics. (NVCC)
- Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
(Formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) includes full-text encyclopedias, handbooks, and other sources for multidisciplinary research. (VIVA, NVCC) - Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowMore than 100 Oxford University Press dictionaries and reference books. (VIVA)
Search Tips
Use broad terms, as encyclopedias usually provide general overviews of topics.
Ivory Coast
Use quotation marks ( " " ) around phrases (two or more words); this tells the database to look for the words in a specific order.
"precolonial Africa"
Why to Use Reference Books
An encyclopedia is a type of reference book. Use a reference book to:
- Define important vocabulary words related to your topic,
- Find a basic overview and main issues related to your topic,
- Find references to additional resources, and
- Discover important background information related to your topic.