For online reference sources in specific disciplines, choose the appropriate Subject Research guide, and select the "Background Information" tab.

Multipurpose reference resources

• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• Oxford Reference Online
• Sage Knowledge
• Credo Reference

Encyclopedias

• The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Encyclopedia of British Columbia
• Wikipedia: Gain background information, knowledge of important names / keywords, and links to other references. To learn more about using Wikipedia in an academic setting, watch Using Wikipedia for Academic Research or see Cornell's Using Wikipedia guide.

Dictionaries and Thesauri

English language

• Merriam-Webster Dictionary
• Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
• Penguin English Dictionary
• Cambridge Dictionaries Online
• Roget's Thesaurus
• The Oxford Paperback Thesaurus

Other languages

• The Concise Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary
• The Oxford Duden German Dictionary
• The Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary
• The Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary
• The Pocket Oxford Latin Dictionary

Biographies

• Dictionary of Canadian Biography
• Gale's Literary Index
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
• American National Biography
• Who's Who in the Twentieth Century

Maps, atlases and almanacs

• National Atlas of Canada
• United Nations Cartographic Section
• World Bank eAtlas of Global Development
• VanMap
• The World Factbook

Statistics

• Statistics Canada
• BC Stats
• Statistical Abstract of the United States
• OFFSTATS: Official Statistics on the Web

Search engines

• Google
• Google Scholar
• Yahoo - Canada