Library Home: Honors 300: Find Background Info

Online Reference for Background Information

Before you get deep into the writing process, you'll probably need to find some background information about some aspect of your topic.

For definitions of key terms and concepts, or to get historical context for an event happening or a movement starting, you'll want to consult one of the sources below.

Online Reference Books by Subject

Global Issues In Context
Focuses on broad issues, such as war, genocide, terrorism, human rights, poverty, famine, globalization, world trade, nuclear proliferation, and global warming, as well as more specific events and topics that are related to these broader issues.
U.S. History In Context
Covers information on the most significant people, events, and topics in U.S. history. Contains magazine, journal and news articles, as well as primary source documents, images, videos, and audio files.
Science In Context
Covers information about today’s most significant science topics. Contains magazine, journal and news articles, as well as primary source documents, images, videos, and audio files.
World History In Context
Covers information on the most significant people, events, and topics in world history. Includes magazine, journal and news articles, as well as primary source documents, images, videos, and audio files.
Literature Resource Center
Find biographical information, full-text literary criticism, and reviews on writers in all disciplines, from all time periods, and around the world.

Includes:
DLB, all volumes 1-374 except "documentary" and "yearbook."
CA: Most recent and complete autho. bio. versions of print.
CLC- Intermediary coverage from the print.

Finding Background Information AU

Newspapers

Boston Globe
Coverage from 1980 to current, with full-text articles published from 1997 to current.
New York Times
This is coverage from 1985 to present.
For coverage: 1851 - 2012, see a librarian.
Also AVAILABLE IN PRINT IN THE LIBRARY.
Wall Street Journal
Searches 1984- present editions of the WSJ online. It contains only text. We have the current WSJ issues in the Newspaper area of the Library.
LexisNexis Academic
Features more than 15,000 news, business and legal sources from LexisNexis®, including foreign language newspapers and U.S. Supreme Court decisions dating back to 1790.