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Reference resources include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, almanacs, and handbooks that can provide background information about your research topic. Reference resources are a great place to begin if you are researching an unfamiliar topic.
Reference resources give you an overview or summary of a topic. They are useful when you need a basic definition or to gain a general understanding of a topic. Credo Reference and Gale eBooks also contain biography collections for reliable biographies on many important and prominent figures. Reference sources are often a good starting point for your research.