Research Guides: Dictionaries & Encyclopedias: Home

Best Bets!

Credo Reference
Spanning all disciplines, Credo is a great starting point for your research. Many entries include citations to excellent scholarship in the field.
CQ Researcher Plus Archive
Best for researching current topics in news, research, and culture. Find entries with titles like "Universal Health Care" and "Gay Marriage" and "NAFTA" that include reputable and definitive data and news source citations.

Other Core Databases

American National Biography Online
Biographical dictionary of over 19,000 notable American figures from all eras of history who are no longer living, with illustrations and links to other websites. Produced by the American Council of Learned Societies and Oxford University Press. Access limited to 1 user at a time.
Dictionary of Irish Biography
Full text biographical essays of over 10,000 notable Irish men and women who made a significant contribution in Ireland and abroad, from earliest times to 2013. Moved to an open access database in 2021.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
Controversial social issues and current events

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Full text biographies of people who have shaped British history and culture, worldwide, from the Romans to the 21st century. Chronicles 60,000 individuals deceased prior to 2013. Access limited to 1 user.
"Too many concurrent users" indicates that the database is already being used by the maximum allowable number of users. Try to access the database at a different time.

It is recommended that users of this database do the following to limit concurrency turnaways and to allow for other users to gain access to the database: 1) Ensure all browsers are set to enable cookies or the system may log each individual piece of content on a page as a new request and register it as a separate session; 2) Log out completely after finishing a session. If the log out button is not selected upon exiting the database, it may take up to 20 minutes for the session to expire; 3) Use only one open browser per session. Multiple browser windows may be logged as separate sessions.
Oxford English Dictionary
Full text of the 20 volume OED with both present-day meanings and the history of individual words and language.
Oxford Reference Online: Premium
Full text of two million entries across Oxford University Presss dictionaries, biographies, companions and encyclopedias spanning 25 core subject areas. Access limited to 1 user.
"Too many concurrent users" indicates that the database is already being used by the maximum allowable number of users. Try to access the database at a different time.

It is recommended that users of this database do the following to limit concurrency turnaways and to allow for other users to gain access to the database: 1) Ensure all browsers are set to enable cookies or the system may log each individual piece of content on a page as a new request and register it as a separate session; 2) Log out completely after finishing a session. If the log out button is not selected upon exiting the database, it may take up to 20 minutes for the session to expire; 3) Use only one open browser per session. Multiple browser windows may be logged as separate sessions.

Wikipedia
An encyclopedia that is written & edited anonymously & collaboratively.