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ENG 111: College Composition I (Moore-Loudoun)

This guide has been created by librarians at NOVA to help you find books, articles, videos, and other types of resources related to this program of study. Direct comments to Barbie Keiser, bkeiser@nvcc.edu.

How to Use Reference Books


An encyclopedia is a type of reference book. These are great resources for gathering background information on your topic, as well as for:

  • Defining important vocabulary words related to your topic,
  • Finding a basic overview and main issues related to your topic, and
  • Finding references to additional resources.

Encyclopedia Search Tips

    

Since encyclopedia articles focus on basic, general information about a topic, what you type in the search box should also be general:

  • YES:  "Music"
  • YES:  "Music" and "high school"
  • NO:  What impact does music study have on high school students' overall GPAs?

Background Information Databases

Encyclopedias can help you learn a bit about a topic before conducting in-depth research. We have several available through our digital library. 

Other encyclopedias are available on the web and we'll use these for discussion in class.

 

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page