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Hello everyone, This video gives a short introduction to using
Oxford Reference Online for those affiliated with Weber State University.
In order to get to Oxford Reference Online you will need to start out at library.weber.edu.
After you get to our website click on Article Databases. In the Find Databases by Title
Menu click on O and then scroll down to Oxford Reference Online at the bottom of the page.
This will bring up the Oxford Reference page. Oxford Reference allows you to search multiple
Oxford Encyclopedias, dictionaries and companions all at the same location. Like other reference
resources it is an excellent place to find background information on a specific topic.
You can do a general search using this box in the upper right hand corner. If you click
on the small arrow underneath the box it will bring up a list of various subjects that you
can use to narrow down your search. You can also click on advanced search to get more
options. This will bring up articles that are under that specific subject. Using this
bar right here you can narrow your results to a specific topic, or sort your results.
Along with being able to search you can also browse different subjects by clicking on the
subject bar You can also look at a specific book by clicking
right here. Notice that some of these have a lock beside the name. This means that we
do not have access to that specific resource online.
Along with other reference resources, Oxford Reference Online is also an excellent place
to find Bilingual dictionaries you can find them by clicking on Bilingual Dictionaries
under the subject bar. After doing this, I would recommend clicking on Books in this
menu to bring up a list of all the bilingual dictionaries together.
Using the Reference Type menu you can browse a specific type of reference material such
as Timelines, Quotations, and Dictionaries. You can find a lot of information in Oxford
Reference Online, however keep in mind that this is not a scholarly article database.
Although you can find scholarly sources by looking at the bibliographies of the various
sources you find keep in mind that this database is a reference resource and as such it should
generally be used to find background or basic information on a topic.
Example I am starting a research project on the war
of 1812. Before I start looking for other resources I want some background information
on my topic. Using Oxford Reference online I type in War of 1812 in the search box. This
gives me 2094 results. Looking over these results most of them contain solid basic information
on the war. I can also use the bibliography on many of these sources to find more information.
Because I found so many different articles I have decided that I want to further narrow
my search down to a specific subject, history. I can do this by clicking on this arrow and
then I select history. After I re-type in my question and hit search I see that my search
has been narrowed down to 970 entries. Some of these entries are from dictionaries
and only give a short description, while others are from companions and encyclopedias and
provide slightly more information. You can find a lot of information in Oxford
Reference Online, however keep in mind that this is not a scholarly article database.
Although you can find scholarly sources by looking at the bibliography.
Thank you for watching this video. If you have any questions about anything please feel
free to contact us here at the Stewart Library by clicking on the ask a librarian link on
the upper left hand corner of our website. And once again thanks for watching.