LibGuides: Subject Guide: General: Background

Dictionary

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
Current, online version of the definitive dictionary of the English language. Traces the evolution of a word over time.

Bartleby.com Great Books Online This link opens in a new window
A collection of reference works including poetry and quotation indexes, full-text for the Bible and Shakespeare, dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Searchable online reference books such as encyclopedias, dictionaries and quotation books in many subject areas.
Gale EBooks This link opens in a new window
A collection of electronic reference books in the Sciences, Social Sciences, History, Religion, Business, Multicultural Studies and Arts.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Searchable access to over 200 Oxford University Press reference sources.

Data.gov This link opens in a new window
"Data.gov starts an exciting new chapter in its evolution to make government data more accessible and usable than ever before."
ICPSR Direct This link opens in a new window
Data sets in social sciences. (You must create a MyData account to download data.)
Statistical Abstract of the United States This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive collection of statistics related to social, political and economic conditions in the United States. Published annually by the government since 1878; as of 2013 published by Proquest. Updated monthly.

Britannica Encyclopedia Online This link opens in a new window
Online version of Encyclopedia Britannica, with links to recommended web sites.

Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window
(Provided through NJ State Library; also available through jerseyclicks.org)
Useful for EXAMPLES of persuasive/point of view essays.
Full-text series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 200 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument).

ProCon.org: Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues
Summarizes controversial issues in a pro/con format

BBC News: Country Profiles
Relatively up-to-date profiles of countries including news information on leaders and links to national media.
CIA World Factbook
Annually updated, maps, statistics, comparisons, and "information on the history, people, government, economy, energy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for .. world entities."

Oxford Dictionary of Quotations This link opens in a new window
One of the best sources for finding and verifying famous quotations. Scroll down to the Search within work box to search quotations.

ARTstor This link opens in a new window
ArtStor is now incorprated into JSTOR. For more information about the change please see https://www.jstor.org/artstor/. ARTstor is a digital library of more than one million images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences with a suite of software tools to view, present, and manage images for research and pedagogical purposes. The collections comprise contributions from outstanding museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, and artists and artists’ estates.
For off-campus access and to save your research, set up a free account.