Research Guides: English Language & Literature: Encyclopedias

Finding Encyclopedias and Background Information

Encyclopedias and reference books can be great resources for background, definitions, or general overviews on a topic. Below are some of our encyclopedia and reference resources. These resources can be best searched by using a general topic you want to know more about (ex. an author, term, theory, or movement).

Gale ebooks (Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
Coverage: Varies
Provides access to encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
Oxford Reference
Coverage: Varies
Online reference product, spanning 25 different subject areas, bringing together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions, and Encyclopedias.
Gale Literary Sources
Coverage: Varies
Use for researching authors and their works, literary movements, or trying to find book reviews of bestsellers, they can access full-text literary works, journal articles, literature criticism and analysis, reviews, author biographies, and a rich collection of scholarly overviews.
Oxford English Dictionary
Coverage: Current
A guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words— past and present—from across the English-speaking world.

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