Scholarly background information sources, such as subject-specific encyclopedias and handbooks, can provide useful short articles to substantiate your understanding of the core concepts related to your research.
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