Reference materials like dictionaries and encyclopedias provide important background information for understanding your topics. If you can't clearly define the theories you are researching, you won't be able to understand the scholarly research.
Use these materials before you start reading articles, and then revisit them when concepts are unclear.
Reference materials like dictionaries and encyclopedias provide important background information for understanding new topics. They are written with beginners in mind. Even if you're experienced in a research, but you're exploring a research topic that is new to you, encyclopedias and dictionaries are an excellent place to begin. If you can't clearly define the terms and theories you are researching, you won't be able to understand the scholarly research.
Use these materials before you start searching for and reading articles and books, and then revisit them when concepts are unclear.
Encyclopedias contain authoritative summary information about topics in short essays. They often include references for further reading, which can be great for follow-up research. A good place to start is in Credo, a cross-disciplinary database of encyclopedias, dictionaries, biographies, and other factual information. Subject encyclopedias may be broad in their scope, such as The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, or more focused, such as The Encyclopedia of English Renaissance Literature or The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (to give just a few examples touching on English or American literature).
The University Libraries has hundreds of encyclopedias, and there is likely to be at least one related to your research area. Head to the Libraries' website and try a Quick Search with the word encyclopedia and another keyword or phrase related to your broader research area. For example:
Some encyclopedias will be online and others are available in the library as print volumes.
Dictionaries contain brief explanatory entries for terms and topics within a particular subject or field. Entries in a dictionary are usually shorter than those in encyclopedias, but the terms are sometimes used interchangeably and flexibly. Dictionaries can be helpful for glossing key ideas in a particular research area as well as for understanding new or unfamiliar terms that appear in articles and books. Some dictionaries help you to understand the historical development of a word and its meanings. Others give you short definitions and pronunciations. A few examples that show the range of dictionaries available include
A Dictionary of Literary Symbols
Historical Dictionary of British Theatre by 
The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms by 
Literary Research and British Modernism
Literary Research and British Postmodernism: Strategies and Sources
Literary Research and Canadian Literature
Literary Research and Irish LiteratureLiterary Research and Postcolonial Literatures in English
Postcolonial literatures can be defined as the body of creative work written by authors whose lands were formerly subjugated to colonial rule. In previous volumes of this series, the research literature of former British colonies Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand have been addressed. This volume offers guidance for those researching the postcolonial literature of the former British colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and South Asia. Among the forty nations represented in this volume are South Africa, India, Pakistan, Ghana, Jamaica, Swaziland, Belize, and Namibia. With the exception of South Africa (which formed the Union of South Africa in 1910), this guide picks up its coverage in 1947, when both India and Pakistan gained their independence. The literature created by writers from these nations represents the diverse experiences in the postcolonial condition and are the subject of this book. The volume provides best-practice suggestions for the research process and discusses how to take advantage of primary text resources in a variety of formats, both digital and paper based: bibliographies, indexes, research guides, archives, special collections, and microforms.
Literary Research and the American Modernist Era
Literary Research and the American Realism and Naturalism PeriodLiterary Research and the British Eighteenth Century
Literary Research and the British Renaissance and Early Modern PeriodLiterary Research and the British Romantic Era
Literary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and Romanticism
Literary Research and the Literatures of Australia and New ZealandLiterary Research and the Era of American Nationalism and RomanticismHarner, James L. Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies. 5th ed. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 2008. Categorizes and evaluates a wide range of sources of value to English literary studies. Call Number: LOVE Ref PR83 H34 2008
A. Research Methods -- B. Guides to Reference Works -- C. Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias -- D. Bibliographies of Bibliographies -- E. Libraries and Library Catalogs -- F. Guides to Manuscripts and Archives -- G. Serial Bibliographies, Indexes, and Abstracts -- H. Guides to Dissertations and Theses -- I. Internet Resources -- J. Biographical Sources -- K. Periodicals -- L. Genres -- M. English Literature -- N. Irish Literature -- O. Scottish Literature -- P. Welsh Literature -- Q. American Literature -- R. Other Literatures in English -- S. Foreign-Language Literatures -- T. Comparative Literature -- U. Literature-Related Topics and Sources
