Find Background Information

Background information can help you learn more about your topic. Background information can give you an overview of your topic and introduce you to concepts, trends, vocabulary, events, etc. around your topic. Wikipedia and Google can often be good places to go for some basic background information. Library databases can also help you find detailed and informative background information on your topic.

These databases can help you find background information.

Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Contains online reference works -- see title list for individual works included.
Literary Reference Center Plus This link opens in a new window
Provides a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. Materials include plot summaries, overviews, literary criticism, author biographies, and more.
Literary Reference Center includes more than 10,000 plot summaries, synopses and work overviews; articles of literary criticism; author biographies; full text of over 300 literary journals; book reviews; 25,000 classic and contemporary poems; 11,000 classic and contemporary short stories; full text of over 7,500 classic novels; author interviews; and over 1,000 images of key literary figures.
Credo Reference Unlimited This link opens in a new window
Contains bilingual dictionaries and reference works in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism This link opens in a new window
Access a historical survey of literary theory and criticism. Includes the field’s influential figures, schools and movements. The scope is international with an emphasis is on Western critical theory. Each entry includes a selective primary and secondary bibliography.