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Online Encyclopedias
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World History (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new windowFind encyclopedia articles in the "REFERENCE" category.
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Daily Life through History This link opens in a new windowA comprehensive, cross-disciplinary resource of social history from ancient times to the present including books, articles, images, maps, primary documents, and more; exploring how others lived and live their lives, and how their lives shaped ours. Full-text. (NVCC)
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World History Modern Era This link opens in a new windowCovers a broad range of modern history topics in depth, includes images, videos and provides easy-to-navigate access to authoritative information for research purposes.
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AtoZ: World Culture This link opens in a new windowA wealth of reference information about the nations of the world. Includes information about demographics, climate, culture and travel. (NVCC)
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Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowMore than 100 Oxford University Press dictionaries and reference books. (VIVA)
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Britannica Academic This link opens in a new windowFully-searchable collection of authoritative encyclopedia articles. (NVCC)
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Biography (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new windowBiographical information on people from throughout world history; from encyclopedias and news articles. For encyclopedia articles, look for "REFERENCE."
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Oxford African American Studies Center This link opens in a new windowEncyclopedia articles by top scholars which focus on the lives and events which have shaped African American history and culture. Includes images, primary sources, and maps.
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Credo Reference This link opens in a new windowA collection of over 500 reference books on a variety of topics. (NVCC)
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.
You will typically not use a reference book or encyclopedia as a source in your research. The information in these sources is for your own background knowledge.