Getting Started
Reference materials are good starting points for research projects because they can provide:
- background or introductory information on a topic
- terminology or additional keywords to use in further searches
- a bibliography listing other materials on a topic
Feel free to visit the reference desk on the first floor of the library and ask a librarian for reference book suggestions.
What about Wikipedia?
For most topics, it's a good idea to use and cite scholarly works rather than Wikipedia.
Visit McQuade's "Wikipedia: Researchers Beware" page for more information.
Online Reference Shelf
McQuade Library subscribes to a few online reference sources.
- Brittanica Online
A premiere encyclopedia and suite of reference sources, including an atlas, historical timelines, country data and a quotation database. - Credo Reference Contains dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, quotations and atlases, plus a wide range or subject-specific titles.
- Literature Resource Center (Gale) Access biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline.
Reference Universe
Can't find reference books on your topic at McQuade? Try searching our collection of print and online reference books using Reference Universe.
Enter your topic in the box below for a list of reference books covering that topic. From the list you can click on the title for location information, or see where the topic is listed in the book's index.
Contact a Librarian |
 Lyena Chavez |
Description
Loading content... please wait
 |