Background sources, also known as reference sources, include encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, directories, and other online or print "books". You might want to consult one or more of them when you're first starting your research, especially if the topic you are researching is unfamiliar to you. They can be excellent sources of factual information, concepts, theories, definitions, terminology and references to other, more in-depth, sources of information.
Some of the sources listed on this page are links to online resources, while others are books that are located in one or more campus libraries at Okanagan College.
GALE LITERATURE is a platform that provides simultaneous searching across multiple literary resources including:
Literature Resource Centre, Literature Criticism Online, and select Gale Virtual Reference titles.
Literature Resource Center Contains biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 130,000 writers in all disciplines.
Literature Criticism Online A series of literary criticism titles representing a range of views on authors and their works. Includes literary commentary from a wide range of sources.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
The OED online provides definitions and historical & etymological analysis on english language words. Also includes variant spellings and phonetic pronunciations.
Oxford Reference
Online dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks & other reference works in subjects areas such as science, nursing, psychology, sociology and other social sciences, business and languages.
This site is maintained by the librarians of Okanagan College Library.
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