Research Guides: ENG 113 General Research Guide: Your Basic Research Toolbox

Online Reference Shelf

We love Wikipedia, but it's not always reliable. Instead of Googling a new area of interest and clicking on the first Wikipedia result, try using Van Wylen's online reference materials to gain a solid frame of reference for your research topic. You can search Credo directly below, or you can click on the other links underneath the Credo search box:

Biography Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Subject: Interdisciplinary
Content/Description:Contains full-text biographies from Biography magazines as well as narrative biographies.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online (Academic Edition) This link opens in a new window
Subject: Interdisciplinary
Content/Description:Contains encyclopedia articles, full-text journal and magazine articles, primary sources, and multimedia for multiple subjects.
Gale Ebooks (was Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new window
Subject: Interdisciplinary
Content/Description:Provides various ebooks from Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
Subject: English
Content/Description: Contains definitions, history, and pronunciations of English-language words, updated every 3 months.
A print version is available at the research help desk.

Hope Primo

Start here when you've got an idea what you'd like to look for. You can go deeper at the next step. PRIMO will find books, scholarly articles, and other types of media.

Hope Primo Tutorial
A Hope College Library and Information Literacy Tutorial

Databases

Databases contain thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles. Because they are subject-based, they can help you find relevant sources faster. Click here for a list of all available databases.

Newspapers

You have access to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and many more current and historical newspapers through Hope College. They can provide great primary sources!