Background - ENGL 1A - Smith - CCSF Library at City College of San Francisco

Background Sources

Background sources (also known as reference sources) are tertiary and contain information we "refer" to, such as dictionaries and encyclopedias. These are good sources to use to get started - when you need ideas for how to narrow your topic, or could use more words to describe your needs (such as when thinking of keywords to put into a search box.)

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference offers background information on topics from hundreds of full-text general and subject-specific reference/encyclopedia titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
An online collection of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Small searchable and downloadable collection of electronic books on a variety of subjects.

▶ Check out our video on how to use e-books for research.

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context) This link opens in a new window
The "Overview" entries in this multidisciplinary database are very good background sources. Overviews are found at the top of the individual Topic pages.
Films on Demand This link opens in a new window
While not strictly "reference," this video database is a great multidisciplinary source to find background information.