Research Guides: First Year Writing: Reference Sources

Online Reference Databases

A reference source is an authoritative work that helps you locate general information about people, facts, and ideas. Use one of these online resources through Copley Library to help you obtain important dates, biographical information, and other background details needed to fill in your knowledge on a subject.

African American Experience This link opens in a new window
Drawing on over 400 volumes, and designed under the guidance of leading librarians, this database gives voice to the black experience from its African origins to the present
American Indian Experience This link opens in a new window
The American Indian Experience offers access to an online library, featuring more than 150 volumes of scholarship and reference content, hundreds of primary documents, and thousands of images.
Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Combines Gale biographies with related full-text articles from magazines and newspapers, thousands of images, and links to vetted websites. Search for current or historic figures based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender, as well as keyword and full text.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Web version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
A digital library containing high-quality reference books from the world's leading publishers. Offers access to millions of entries and contains all types of reference books including dictionaries and encyclopedias, covering science to Shakespeare.
Latino American Experience This link opens in a new window
LAE’s content spans from the pre-Columbian Indigenous civilizations of the Americas, through the Spanish and Mexican settlement of much of what is now the United States, to the triumphs and challenges facing present-day U.S. Latinos.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center This link opens in a new window
Ideal for those looking for pro and con arguments on a wide variety of contemporary social issues. Includes the opposing viewpoints series as well as links to reference materials, statistics, selected magazine and newspaper articles, images and more.