"Reference sources" can provide helpful background information about a topic and include sources such as encyclopedias, topic overviews, dictionaries, timelines, and bibliographies.
Online resources such as Wikipedia can be a great start, but usually will not be considered reliable. The following databases have background information from credible sources which you can use and cite in your academic assignments.
The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
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The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome
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The Classical Tradition
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Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World: A Companion to the City of Rome
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Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Medieval World
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The Routledge History of the Renaissance
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Search over 600 full text reference books for your topic. It also has article links to library databases (such as ProQuest and EBSCO).
Includes language and subject dictionaries, general reference books, subject-specific reference books, timelines, quotations, and overview pages.
Search the index or browse subjects to find 28,000 entries on a full range of topics.
Additional reference databases can be found in A-Z Databases by limiting database type to Reference.