Building context (and recognizing when you need more context) is an important element in the research process. Tertiary sources, especially subject encyclopedias, are often the best place to start when you are trying to establish some basic historical, social, or cultural context.

Articles in subject encyclopedias are written by scholars who have deep specialization in the topic and the articles themselves go through a stringent editing process. These resources can help you with:

• Understanding the scope of a topic
• Suggesting ideas for narrowing a topic
• Identifying key concepts, terms, dates and names
• Listing subject areas related to a topic
• Recommending sources for further exploration

In Collins Library, the print reference collection is located on the first floor, and most of the online reference collection is available in one of the database collections listed on the right. Use Primo to identify subject encyclopedias in either format; or ask a librarian for recommendations.

Subject encyclopedias provide a quick way to capture multidisciplinary lenses on a single topic. If we search for the topic of "school lunch" using the Gale eBooks online reference collection, we'll find a number of different entries, from a wide variety of sources. For each entry, ask yourself these questions:

• Which academic disciplines are being called upon to explore the issue? 
• What disciplinary differences do you notice in the way the topic is covered?
• What types of evidence are cited?
• What kinds of research questions might this lead you to ask?
• What additional sources does the subject encyclopedia point you to?

Start with these subject encyclopedias and branch out as needed. 

Print encyclopedias and dictionaries are located on the first floor of Collins Library.

Not sure where to look? Each of these online collections will introduce you to a wealth of dictionaries and encyclopedias.