Background Information
- Background Information includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographical sources, statistics & data, and other kinds of information that will give you an overview or context.
Getting Started
- Access Science This link opens in a new window Over 8500 articles, 115,000 dictionary terms, and hundreds of Research Updates in all areas of science and technology; from McGraw-Hill.
- Biodiversity Library Contains millions of pages of legacy taxonomic literature in the collections of key natural history and botanical libraries.
- Encyclopedia of Life Ongoing global project that makes available fundamental information (including images) on all known plant, animal, and other species.
- Gale Encyclopedia of Science [Gale] This link opens in a new window Covers all major areas of science, engineering, technology, as well as mathematics and the medical and health sciences, while providing a comprehensive overview of current scientific knowledge and technology. Entries typically describe scientific concepts, provide overviews of scientific areas and, in some cases, define terms.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window Reference dictionaries and companions, including illustrations, web links, and searching individual titles or by subject area; from Oxford University Press.
- Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window Contains overviews of research in astronomy, biology, engineering, and other scientific fields.
- eLS: Citable Reviews in the Life Sciences This link opens in a new window Searchable collection of articles by scientists and historians in fields of biochemistry & physiology, cell biology, developmental biology, ecology, evolution, genetics, immunology, molecular biology, neuroscience, microbiology & virology, plant science, structural biology, science and society.
- JSTOR Global Plants This link opens in a new window Community-contributed database. Herbaria can share plant type specimens; experts determine & update plant names. Supports botany, ecology & conservation.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online This link opens in a new window A scholar-curated library of subject bibliographies in the humanities & social sciences; each entry offers a guided tour through key literature on a topic.
- Routledge Handbooks Online This link opens in a new window DRM-free handbooks offering peer-reviewed research articles in the humanities, social sciences, education, psychology, engineering & built environment. Chapters can be browsed, searched, viewed & downloaded.
- Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography Full text articles on scientists, from classical antiquity to modern times.
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