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Rider University Library

Reference Sources (Print and ONLINE)

Don't know where to start with your research? Have no idea what to write about? Want an expert in your discipline to provide you with pertinent information and suggestions? Start here.

Online Reference Databases

credo

Credo Reference provides access to 1,000+ encyclopedias, handbooks, guides, and dictionaries covering science and medicine, history and cultural studies, business, education, psychology, social sciences, and much more.

Browse or search on the Credo Landing Page
Screenshot of Credo landing page

Review and Filter Results and Explore Related Concepts

screenshot of credo landing page

At the top of the article - find the citation information

screenshot of the credo article page - circle arond the citation feature at the top of the page.

Browse or search on the Credo Landing Page
Screenshot of Credo landing page

Review and Filter Results and Explore Related Concepts

screenshot of credo landing page

At the top of the article - find the citation information

screenshot of the credo article page - circle arond the citation feature at the top of the page.

 

At the bottom, look at the references, many will link to articles you may wish to evaluate for your paper.

screenshot of credo related sources

 

CQ Researcher

CQ Researcher offers in-depth, non-biased coverage of today's most important issues. Each report is on a single topic—more than 12,000 words of text and extensive bibliographies. ... Each weekly issue provides up-to-date information on controversial subjects written by CQ's staff of experienced reporters.

Congressional Quarterly (CQ) Researcher is a great database to use when researching political and social issues.

Screenshot CQ Researcher a box highlights the search box and reads "Search by Keyword or Browse by Topics"


On the results page, you may want to change the sort order to "Most Recent" or "Most Popular" or use the date filter on the left-hand side.

Screenshot of CQ page with callout on the left to the date filter and call out to the right pointing the location of the Sort by

 

These very comprehensive reports are well-worth the read. Find citation info at the top of the page. 

 

Screenshot CQ Researcer article page

Offers thousands of plot summaries, synopses, and title overviews; literary criticism; author biographies and interviews; book reviews; and poems, short stories, and classic texts.

"Literary Reference Center (LRC) is a comprehensive literary reference database, which provides users with a broad spectrum of reference information from antiquity to the present day. LRC is a completely full-text database that combines information from over 1,000 books and monographs, major literary encyclopedias and reference works, hundreds of literary journals, and unique sources not available anywhere else. LRC contains detailed information on the most studied authors and their works."

Points of View Reference Center™ is a full-text database designed to provide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 200 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument).

Contents: 

  • overview essays providing background on the issue 
  •  "Point" essays arguing one side of the issue
  •  "Counterpoint" essays arguing the opposing view
  • A "Guide to Critical Analysis" to help with research and critical thinking

Conduct a search and when you review your results, make note to use the ⋮ to the right of the article to find Tools, including Cite.  
Also, click on Access options to access the entire article

 

Points of View Screenshot with Call to the ⋮ menu to the right of the article which leads to Tools, including Cite. There is a call out to Access Options, to access the full article

 

See our Statista Research Guide for more info

From the library home page, click on the Advanced Search link in the Discover Library Resources box.

A red arrow points to the Advanced Search link in the lower right corner of the Discover Library Resources box. The box has five tabs called Everything, Books & Scores, Articles, Media, Journals. "Discover Library Resources" appears above a search box. To the right of the search box is a purple button Search! The Advanced Search link is under the purple search button.

 

 

Craft your search using your topic.  In the example, dance is used.   

  • In the first row, select Search index: Keyword (kw:). For Search terms, enter: Dance.

  • In the second box, type words that are usually associated with reference materials: encyclopedia OR manual OR guide OR handbook OR atlas  

Hint: Include OR to indicate "any of these words." (As opposed to AND or nothing, which will find books using all of those words) Capitalize your OR.

The Advanced search page has three search boxes. The search index for the first box is set to keyword. The search term entered is dance. In the second row, the search index keyword is also selected. In the second search box are the words "encyclopedia OR manual OR guide OR handbook OR atlas." The ORs are capitalized.

 

 

On the results page, limit to Book.

  • Options to limit to eBook and Print book.

Search terms are highlighted in yellow.

  • In the example below, they are found in the title, abstract, contents.

The results page for the dance search is shown. On the left sidebar menu, under Format, a red box is drawn around the Book filter, which is checked. Under Book are options for ebook, print book and continually updated resources, all of which are also checked. The first result, shown in the middle of the screen, is the Routledge encylopedia of social and cultural anthropology. A caption in red letters reads, "Search terms are highlighted in yellow. Found in title, abstract, and content notes." Red arrows point to the words highlighted: encyclopedia in the title and abstract, and Dance in the contents notes.

To increase the relevancy of your search--to see sources that are all about your topic--change the search index to SUBJECT in Advanced Search.

 

The first search index is set to SUBJECT su:, search term: dance. The second search index is set as SUBJECT: su with the terms encyclopedia OR manual OR guide OR handbook OR atlas. A caption in red lettering says, Try both keyword and subject for your topic in combination with the second search box index as Subject (su:).

Limiting to subject on the terms "encyclopedia OR manual OR guide OR handbook OR atlas," finds these terms in the Subjects: field of the record. 

  •  This means these books are encyclopedias, manuals, etc. 

  • International encyclopedia of dance : a project of Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. is shown. Subjects listed are Subjects: Dance—Encyclopedias Ballet—Encyclopedias Encyclopedias Ballet—Encyclopedias Encyclopedia Encyclopedias encyclopedias. A red box is drawn around these.

 

The search results record for The Oxford handbook of dance and wellbeing is shown. The search terms Handbooks and manuals as subject is highlighted. A red box is drawn around the Subjects listed.