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Welcome to SFU Library's Research Skills Tutorials.
This video focuses on using reference sources, such as encyclopedias and handbooks, to find background information on your topic.
Reference sources like encyclopedias and handbooks are reputable, factual, and easy to read for background research.
They can help you identify key issues, schools of thought or controversies associated with your topic, to help you come up with a thesis.
They'll also help you get familiar with important terminology that you can use when searching for more information.
Finding background information is an important step in your research process,
and knowing where to locate the best sources can make your research process faster and more efficient.
Let's take a look at some online reference sources available through the SFU Library website.
From the SFU Library Homepage, under the "Help" column, select "Online reference sources".
Here you can find databases that let you search many encyclopedias at once.
To demonstrate, let's click on the Gale Virtual Reference Library link.
Click on "Connect" to access the Gale Virtual Reference Library.
If you're accessing online library resources from off-campus or from your own laptop,
you will need to log in with your SFU computing ID and password.
Let's say I'm looking up background information on climate change.
From the search results page, you can quickly scan over each article to see if it's relevant to your topic.
You can also narrow your search results further by using the left-hand menu, for example: by "Document Type," or by "Subject."
Let's click on this first article.
Encyclopedia articles cover the basic facts on a subject. For example:
Key concepts,
background information,
people,
and dates.
Look for section headings,
as well as similar and related concepts and subjects.
You can always use these words to search for more information later.
You can even use the bibliography at the very end of the article as a jumping off point for further research.
Now that we know where to find online encyclopedias,
let's use "Fast Search" to find other print and online reference sources, like handbooks, in the library collection.
From the library homepage, select "Fast Search."
I'm going to type in "climate change" and handbook in the search box.
Take a look at the search results.
Items that are in "In Library" with a call number indicates a print copy.
When you see "eBook: Full Text Online," you can access the book from online and off- campus.
If you only want to see what online handbooks the library has,
use the left-hand menu to filter your search results.
I'm going to click on "Items with full text online,"
and "Book or eBook."
Let's click on the first book.
Handbooks provide a substantial overview on a topic.
They're designed to be easily consulted, so skimming the table of contents will let you quickly jump to key topics.
Again, check the bibliography for each chapter for even more resources on your topic.
This concludes our tutorial on how to search for reference sources to find background information.
Thanks for watching!