Getting Background Information

Before beginning in depth research, it is usually helpful to get an overview of your topic. Reference books are a good resource for this. The reference collection is located on the first floor of the main library in the Information Commons area.  Some reference books are also shelved with the circulating books. If it is a reference item, the status section of the catalog record will display as Library Use Only, since reference books may not be checked out of the library.

Life sciences materials are generally found in the QH to QL sections of the collection (both in the reference area and in the circulating collection).  Some reference titles that might be of interest are:

Encyclopedia of Biodiversity              QH541.15 .B56

Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia QL7 G7813