Many other library resources are available to you beyond what you can access from your library’s home page. If you need help locating or using materials, consult a librarian.

Encyclopedias. Multivolume general references, such as the New Encyclopaedia Britannica and Encyclopedia Americana, can help you survey a topic. Specialized encyclopedias cover a field in much greater depth. You can also conduct “reverse research” — reading a useful encyclopedia or other reference entry first to inform you and then to follow its bibliography to reliable sources.

Dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries cover foreign languages, abbreviations, and slang as well as the terminology of a particular field, as in Black’s Law Dictionary, Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, or the Oxford Dictionary of Natural History. After you read a definition in a specialty dictionary, look for terms that might narrow your database searches.

Handbooks and Companions. Concise articles survey terms and topics on a specific subject.

Government Documents. The U.S. government, the most prolific publisher in the world, makes an increasing number of documents available for all citizens on the Web, along with indexes like these:

The government also compiles valuable statistics:

Atlases. For a geographical angle, use maps of countries and regions as well as history, natural resources, ethnic groups, and other topics.

Biographical Sources. Directories list basic information about prominent people. Tools such as Biography Index and the Biography and Genealogy Master Index locate resources like American Men and Women of Science, The Dictionary of American Biography, The Dictionary of Literary Biography, The Dictionary of National Biography, Who’s Who in Politics, and Who’s Who in the United States.

Bibliographies. A bibliography lists a wide variety of sources on a specific subject, research others have already done. Every time you find a good book or article, look at the sources the author draws on; some of these may be useful to you and can lead to sources that you wouldn’t otherwise find. For example, The Essential Shakespeare: An Annotated Bibliography of Major Modern Studies lists the best books and articles published on each of Shakespeare’s works, a wonderful shortcut when you’re looking for worthwhile criticism. If you’re lucky, adding the word bibliography to a subject or keyword search on your topic will turn up a similarly helpful list of sources with annotations.

Special Materials. Your library is likely to have other collections of materials, especially on regional or specialized topics, but you may need to ask what’s available. For example, firsthand diaries, letters, speeches, and interviews are increasingly available in searchable databases. Your library also may collect pamphlets and reports distributed by companies, trade groups, and professional organizations.