Human Development & Family Studies Library Resources: Background Information

Use reference materials to find background information.  Reference books can help you:

• Explore a topic: find out what has been said about this subject, trends, issues, etc.
• Identify and define unfamiliar terms or people in your reading
• Find references to other books and articles on the subject
• Find specific keywords to use in online searches

Need some more background information about that new concept you learned in class today?  Writing a paper on a topic that's new to you?  Not sure what topic to choose for your paper?  Answer yes to any of these questions, and a subject-specific encyclopedia is the thing for you.

Wikipedia is a common starting point for many people researching a new topic, but unlike scholarly subject-specific encyclopedias, most professors will not allow you to cite Wikipedia in your bibliography.  View this video tutorial, Wikipedia: Beneath the Surface, from North Carolina State University Libraries for more information about how Wikipedia works and its information quality.

Psychology and Human Development Reference Books