Encyclopedias  

Encyclopedias are useful sources to find basic background information on a topic, making them good places to start the research process. Listed here are a number of general encyclopedias covering a wide range of topics.

Encyclopedia Britannica Online
A comprehensive and credible general knowledge encyclopedia. In addition to 72,000 articles on topics in every discipline, the Encyclopedia Britannica Online also provides links to 130,000 websites that have been selected and reviewed by Britannica's editorial board of experts.

Canadian Encyclopedia
The online version of a classic Canadian reference work. Useful for finding basic information on people, themes and events.

Oxford Reference Online
Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource. The Core Collection contains over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press.