Is your research topic too big to cover in a short paper? Is your topic so specific that sources will be hard to find?
Before you even begin your research, start the process with reference sources-- in the Library's Reference Section or online in our databases. Reference books, like subject encyclopedias, can give you a head start and make your research easier in the long run. Use reference sources to:
MOST IMPORTANT: Encyclopedia of Social Work
Collections of Many Online Reference Books in one place:
Credo Reference and Gale eBooks / Gale Virtual Reference Library and Salem Press
Oxford Reference and Sage Knowledge Reference also have thousands of scholarly, academic articles, but they are a bit more difficult to use. Click here to find instructions on how to use these collections of reference books.
Community and Family Health Issues: An Encyclopedia of Trends, Conditions, and Treatments. Reference RA 418.5 .F 3 C 666 2017
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Ed. (DSM-V). Ready Reference RC 455.2 .C 4 D 54 2013
Dictionary of Conflict Resolution
A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory
Dictionary of Hallucinations. Reference RC 553 .H 3 B 56 2010
Dictionary of Social Work and Social Care. Reference HV 12 .H 37 2013
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia of Abortion in the United States.
Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World
Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues
Encyclopedia of Health and Behavior
Encyclopedia of Human Services and Diversity
Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health
Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms
Encyclopedia of Macro Social Work
Encyclopedia of Psychopharmacology
Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America
Encyclopedia of Social Work with Groups
Encyclopedia of the Life Course and Human Development. Reference HM 626 .E 538 2009
Encyclopedia of the Social and Solidarity Economy.
Etiquette and Taboos around the World : A Geographic Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Customs.
The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health
The Global Encyclopedia of Informality: Volume 2, Understanding of Social and Cultural Complexity
Human Services Dictionary. Reference HV 12 .R 67 2003.
International Encyclopedia of Depression. Reference RC 573 .I 573 2009
Key Concepts in Anti-Discriminatory Social Work.
Key Concepts in Health Psychology
Key Concepts in Social Work Practice. CCIC HV 40 .K 4248 2013
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Intergroup Communication
Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics and Policy. Reference HC 110 .P 6 P 598 2004
Routlede Spanish Bilingual Dictionary of Psychology and Psychiatry. Reference BF 31 .K 356 2011
Sage Dictionary of Cultural Studies
The Social Work Dictionary. Reference HV 12 .B 37 2014
Social Work: The Basics. General HV 40 .D 6333 2023
The Social Workers Desk Reference. Reference HV 40 .S 6464
Statistical Abstract of the United States. Latest print editions at Ready Reference. Older editions at General HA 202 .U 5 S 93.