Follow these steps in your group as you investigate a selection of subject encyclopedias:
1. Come up with a list of narrower, broader, and related terms to describe your topic.
2. Each group member should search one of the subject encyclopedia collections listed on the left to identify subject encyclopedia entries that potentially could be useful.
3. Identify the various disciplines (academic fields) that investigate this topic.
4. Working together, create a mind map of disciplinary approaches to your topic. Which ones seem most likely to help you interpret the novel?
5. Enter two or three entries into your group RefWorks account so that you can refer back to it as needed.
Subject encyclopedias, handbooks and overviews are scholarly, tertiary works written by experts on a variety of topics. The articles are typically longer and more detailed than those found in general encyclopedias. The background information provides a good starting point as you begin the research process. These resources can help you with:
In Collins Library, the print reference collection is located on the first floor near the Learning Commons computers, and most of the online reference collection is available in one of the database collections listed below. Use Primo to identify subject encyclopedias in either format; or ask a librarian for recommendations.
The subject encyclopedias listed here are potential starting points, depending on your topic, but you also should explore the entries in the online collections.
Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels by 
The Encyclopedia of Aesthetics by 
Holocaust Literature: an encyclopedia of writers and their work by 
Encyclopedia of Life Writing by 
New Dictionary of the History of Ideas by 
American Decades Series by 
Encyclopedia of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered History in America by 
Gender Studies: Interdisciplinary Research Primer by 
Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender by 
Encyclopedia of Religion by 
Religious Studies: Interdisciplinary Research Primer by 
Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health by 
Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society by 
