Before you start looking for scholarly books and articles, you should spend some time doing background research. Using dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, and biographical resources can help you to understand the major issues, people, events and scope of your research topic.  A handbook is a single-volume reference book of compact size that provides concise factual information on a specific subject, organized systematically for quick and easy access. The following resources are particularly useful for providing context and background information in the area of Labour Studies.

General

Search for "labor" topics within these reference works.

• A dictionary of geography
• A dictionary of sociology
• Gale Virtual Reference Library - collection of online reference sources in many subject areas.
• International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences
• Oxford Reference Online -  You can search the resources individually by title or simultaneously to find results from all resources.
• Sage Knowledge - Click on "encyclopedias", and "search within"

Biographical information

• Biographical Dictionary of American Labor [print]
• Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders
• Dictionary of Labour Biography [print]
• Cultural theory: the key thinkers
• The Lexicon of Labor: More than 500 Key Terms, Biographical Sketches, and Historical Insights Concerning Labor in America [print]

Handbooks, dictionaries and encyclopedias

• Canadian encyclopedia - search results for "labour"
• Canadiana Collection
• Dictionary of Canadian Law [print]
• Dictionary of Human Resource Management [online or print]
• Encyclopedia of British Columbia - from KnowBC. Use the tab, "books" to find this encyclopedia. There is a search engine.
  • Click on "subject" (left-hand column) and select "labour movement" to obtain an overview of BC labour history
• Encyclopedia of the industrial revolution in world history
• Glossary of Industrial Relations Terms [print]
• Historical dictionary of organized labor
• ILO Thesaurus: Labour, Employment and Training Terminology [print]
• Labor, Employment, and the Law: A Dictionary [print]
• Labour Law Terms: A Dictionary of Canadian Labour Law [print]
• Lexicon of Labor: More than 500 Key Terms, Biographical Sketches, and Historical Insights Concerning Labor in America [print]
• Oxford encyclopedia of economic history [online or print]
• Palgrave Handbook of the Sociology of Work in Europe
• Roberts' Dictionary of Industrial Relations [print]
• Routledge companion to employment relations
• Sage eReference
• Sociology of work : an encyclopedia 
• St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide: Major Events in Labor History and their Impact [print]

Capitalism, colonialism

• Routledge handbook of the history of settler colonialism

Globalization, politics of labour, work and employment

• Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice [print]
• Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of occupational safety and workplace health 
• Cambridge handbook of labor and democracy 
• Cambridge handbook of the changing nature of work
• Canadian Labour Relations: An Information Manual [print]
• Canadian Labour Relations and Employment Topics [print]
• Handbook Global History of Work
• Handbook of Employment and Society: Working Space [print]
• Handbook of Globalisation
• Handbook on globalisation and labour standards
• Handbook on In-Work Poverty
• Handbook of labor economics
• Handbook of Migration and Globalisation
• Handbook of research on cyberbullying and online harassment in the workplace
• Handbook of Research on Employee Voice
• Handbook of research on the global political economy of work
• Handbook of the international political economy of the corporation
• Handbook of the Politics of Labour, Work and Employment
• Handbook of unethical work behavior : implications for individual well-being 
• Handbook on the international political economy of gender 
• International handbook on diversity management at work : country perspectives on diversity and equal treatment
• Labour Market Economics: Theory, Evidence, and Policy in Canada [print]
• New Forms of Employment: Current Problems and Future Challenges
• Palgrave Handbook of Age Diversity and Work
• Palgrave handbook of disability at work 
• Palgrave Handbook of Global Migration in International Business
• Palgrave Handbook of International Labour Migration Law and Policy Perspectives
• Palgrave Handbook of the Sociology of Work in Europe
• Palgrave handbook of workplace well-being
• Palgrave Handbook of Workers' Participation at Plant Level
• Research handbook on leave policy : parenting and social inequalities in a global perspective 
• Routledge companion to employment relations
• Routledge companion to wellbeing at work 
• Routledge handbook of the gig economy
• Routledge handbook of the anthropology of labor 
• Routledge international handbook of working-class studies 
• Wiley Blackwell handbook of the psychology of occupational safety and workplace health
• Work and Labour in Canada: Critical Issues [print]
• Working in a Global Era [print]

Human trafficking

• Palgrave Handbook of Bondage and Human Rights in Africa and Asia
• Palgrave International Handbook of Human Trafficking
• Routledge handbook of human trafficking
• Routledge international handbook of human trafficking : a multi-disciplinary and applied approach

Labour rights

• Cambridge Handbook of U.S. Labor Law for the Twenty-First Century
• Employees' Rights: Your Practical Handbook to Workplace Law - This is specific to U.S.A.
• Minimum wage : a reference handbook
• Targeted surveys on application of core labour standards: Canada [report]
• Women's Rights At Work: A Handbook of Employment Law

Labour unions

• American Labor Sourcebook [print]
• Cyberunion handbook : transforming labor through computer technology
• Encyclopedia of Strikes in American History 
• Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-Class History [print]
• Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor [print]
• Labor Conflict in the United States: An Encyclopedia [print]
• International Handbook of Labour Unions: Responses to Neo-liberalism [print]
• International handbook of labour unions : responses to neo-liberalism
• Organization and Experience of Work [print]
• Trade Unions of the World
• Worker Center Handbook: A Practical Guide for Starting and Building the New Labor Movement