Background Information
It is important to have some general knowledge of your topic before delving further into your research! It will help you select a topic and provide a context for doing more specific or refined searching.
There are many sources of background information, some of which are below.
Throughout the course, you can return to these resources as you encounter technical terms or need to learn about facets of your topic.
Video Tutorial: Background Information
This video tutorial for undergraduate use discusses the role of "background information" in library research. This was done for a summer institute about data. It makes some points that are relevant to any subject area.
Background information resources
Reference resources can provide encyclopedia or other general background about concepts or methods, as well as definitions of concepts. Some are listed below.
- eLS This link opens in a new windowFormerly Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, this resource from Wiley contains over 5000 peer-reviewed articles. Monthly-updating.
- Merck Manuals websiteSee neurologic section.
- Medline PlusNot to be confused with Medline, Medline Plus is designed to give background information about medically related topics, usually at a layperson level. Includes a dictionary.
- Access Science This link opens in a new windowOnline encyclopedia and dictionary for the sciences. Includes biographies, images and animations, and videos.
- Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new windowOxford Reference includes dictionaries, including authoritative dictionaries for many languages, encyclopedias, and companions, featuring more in-depth but still brief entries, e.g. Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization.
PRECISION SEARCHING OF THE OPEN WEB
To do a "precision" search in Google, search on google advanced search. This brings up the Google Advanced Search.
USING WIKIPEDIA
Wikipedia can be a valuable source of background information and a stepping stone to discovering academic resources. *Often wikipedia has useful links listed at the bottom of an article.*
You will of course have to confirm independently information you find in Wikipedia.
Here is a detailed guide about Wikipedia. For information about the reliability of Wikipedia, see this Wikipedia article.
EVALUATING WEB RESOURCES
See the criteria for evaluating web resources below.
Books can be a great source of background information.
You can look up books, whether print or electronic, in ASA, Lehigh's online catalog. See the search box.
Example of an electronic book that comes of: The brain and behavior: an introduction to behavior neuroantomy.
Scroll down to see link to the ebook.
Not finding a book at Lehigh? Try searching one of the two flavors of WorldCat available here.
Need to request a copy of a book that's not available at Lehigh? Use Palci in Interlibrary Loan to have books sent here. You will get an email when your book is ready for pickup. (Use
Evaluating Web Resources
Web resources can be rich sources of information on a topic, but when conducting research, it's important to consider the quality and accuracy of sites you visit on the open web. Use the CRAPP test to determine whether a web resource is trustworthy:
Video Tutorial: Finding an Ebook
To discover books and ebooks, go to ASA, the library catalog near the top of the library homepage. See this video tutorial about how to limit your search in ASA to ebooks. .Also, see the Ebooks library guide.