• If you are looking for a "Research Starter", you can enter a simple keyword related to your subject. If there is a "Research Starter" related to your subject, it will show up at the top of the page. 
• For example, you could search for psychology.

• If there is a "Research Starter," it will appear at the top of your search results.

• Click on the title to see the entry.

The UCC Library Search Box will also bring up many reference sources in the form of ebooks. To find these sources, I also recommend using the type of source that you are looking for (for example, encyclopedia, dictionary, handbook) as a search term along with a keyword related to your subject.

• You could search for psychology encyclopedia.

• If you wanted to only see search results which were ebooks, you could click Source Types on the left side of the screen and then Show More...

• You would then see a complete list of all of the different types of sources in your search results. You could click on ebooks and Update. Then all of your search results would be ebooks.

• We can find the ebook entitled Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise Psychology.

• To read the full-text of this ebook, we can click on PDF Full Text. We can click through the contents of the book on the left side of the screen to get to the entry that we are interested in.

To find print reference sources available at the UCC Library or in the Douglas County Library System, it is helpful to include the type of reference source that you are searching for along with a keyword related to the subject. This is because the type of reference source is usually part of its title.

• If I wanted to find an encyclopedia related to psychology, I could search for psychology encyclopedia.

• If you wanted to limit your search results to only sources that were available physically (in print for books, CDs for music, or DVDs for video) in the UCC Library and Douglas County Library System, you could check the box next to Library Catalog under Limit To on the left side of the screen.

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• This book is available at the UCC Library in print. You can find it on the shelf at REF 150.3 E.

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• Clicking Retrieve Catalog Item will bring me to the page where I can see more information about it. Under Item Resources on the right side of the screen,there is an option for you to place a hold on this book.

Reference sources are sources such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, manuals, handbooks, or atlases that are meant to be referred to for background information about a topic. Instead of reading them all the way through, usually you read a small section of them to find information. 

Reference sources, such as encyclopedias, are great sources for background reading because they can provide you with an overview of your topic. Because they provide general information, they aren't meant to be used as sources in your research papers (you will find more in-depth, current information to use for your research papers from sources such as academic articles, books, and credible websites). Instead, reference sources are meant to help you learn about your topic so that you can learn what is important or interesting about it and then decide how to focus your research question. You can often learn key vocabulary, issues, and subtopics from reading reference sources.

An example of a reference source is this encyclopedia entry on "Climate Change and Global Warming" from the Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science. 

Pan, Z. (2020). Climate change and global warming. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Science. https://proxy.umpqua.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=89475555&site=eds-live&scope=site  

Using the UCC Library Search Box, you can find:

• "Research Starters"
  • These show at the top of your search results and are usually an encyclopedia entry related to your search terms.
• Reference sources in the form of ebooks
  • For example, an encyclopedia or dictionary in the form of an ebook.
• Reference sources available in print at the UCC Library or in the Douglas County Library System
  • For an example, a paper encyclopedia or dictionary.
  • You can also find print reference sources by browsing the shelves of the library.
• You can also find the citation for each reference source that you find using the library search box.

1. Go to umpqua.edu/library, click Online Collections on the right side of the page. You will be taken to a list of UCC's databases. To see only the reference databases, click Reference in the drop-down menu under All Online Collection Types. You will now see a complete list of UCC Library reference databases. Click Credo Reference.

2. Enter your search terms into the search box and click the search button.

3. On your page of search results, you will see all of the entries in different reference books that match your search terms. When choosing a result, take into consideration both the title of the entry and the title of the reference book. Remember that the title of the reference book will give you a good idea about whether the entry will be what you are looking for. Also, look at the number of words in the entry to help you find an entry that is the length that you are looking for (1892 words compared to 174 words).

4. You can now read this entry and see the sources in the bibliography that were used to write this entry, get the citation for this entry in APA or MLA format, email the full text and citation of this entry to yourself, or get the permanent link (sometimes called a permalink or bookmark) to always bring you back to this entry.

Bibliography or Further Reading

Scroll down to the bottom of the entry to see the bibliography of sources that the author used to write the entry. For this entry, a list of sources used to write the article is not listed. Instead, sources are suggested for further reading on this subject.

Citation in APA or MLA format

To find the citation of this article in APA or MLA format, you can either click the Cite Article icon near the top of the page or scroll down to the bottom of the page. Choose the citation format that you need and and then copy and past the citation into your Reference List (for APA) or Works Cited (for MLA). The title of the reference book should be in italics. Make sure that the italics copy over in your citation or make sure that you add them yourself after you have pasted the citation. As always, you will want to check the citation that you found in the database against the instructions for citing an entry or chapter in a reference book in the APA or MLA citation manuals.

Email the full text and citation to yourself

Click the Email icon at the top of the page. Choose the citation format that you will be using form the drop down menu (APA or MLA). Enter in your information and click Share.

Get Permalink

Click the Permalink icon at the top of the page. A box will appear with a link (also called a URL) for you to copy and paste. This is a permanent link that will always bring you back to this resource. (If you were to copy the web address that appears in your web browser, this link will NOT bring you back to the entry because it is not permanent.)

• When looking for reference works on a specific subject, use very simple keywords. Examples: social psychology, solar system origin.
  • The keyword phrase women's rights would bring more results than women's rights in the 19th century in Oregon.
• Use as few words as possible to sum up your general topic. If you do not get many search results, reduce the number of words you are using in your search terms.
• Do NOT write sentences or ask questions (natural language) as you would in Google.

Example

If I were searching for reference sources about net neutrality, I could try some of the following search terms:

• net neutrality
• internet neutrality
• open internet