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Reference Sources: A Place for Ideas

Look at encyclopedias and other reference sources to get background information and historical overviews on many different topics. These and other items in the Reference Collection are located on the main floor of Hesburgh Library near the reference desk.

Online reference sources include:

Browse online resources in the Reference Shelf, or search the Hesburgh Library Reference Collection to find print reference sources.

CatalogPlus – Locate books, journals, videos, and more in the Hesburgh Libraries, the Law School Library, and other nearby campuses, including St. Mary’s and Holy Cross.

ND Catalog – Locate books, journals, videos and more in the Hesburgh Libraries.

Call Number Locations – Consult this page to determine where to find books on a particular subject or when you have the call number for a book.

You can also consult the page to determine where to find books in Hesburgh Library on a particular subject.

Databases covering many disciplines

These databases include both popular and scholarly sources on a wide variety of topics. They respond well to most First Year writing assignments.

Academic Search Premier Expanded Academic ASAP Google Scholar

How to find scholarly articles

Need Scholarly Articles? Click Here For Help!

Choosing databases for more specific subjects

You will also get good results from the list of most popular databases at Notre Dame: Top Article Databases

Article QuickSearch

Article QuickSearch can be a useful option for beginning research on a topic that is unfamiliar. This interface enables you to:

Simultaneously search multiple databasesSave time by entering your search terms just once
Get a limited number of results from each databaseGood when you want to quickly try out several databases to see which ones respond best to your query
Retrieve popular, news, and scholarly articles

Watch a demo

Good when you would like to get a variety of articles for background information on your topic

Good when your topic is multidisciplinary and you need information from a variey of perspectives

What if I need an article database in a specific field?

Article Databases by Subject provides an alphabetically arranged list of links to subject pages. Each subject page contains links to and brief information about recommended databases in that particular field. Other databases are designed to locate articles within a narrow field of study.

  1. Review the list of subject headings.
  2. Choose the subject link that best fits your topic to get a subject-specific page of recommended databases.
  3. Read the database descriptions and select a database. If you need help choosing or searching a specific database, please Ask a Librarian.
  4. Some subject pages include a QuickSearch field. This option searches several of the recommended databases simultaneously. Please note that the number of results from each database is limited. Searching just one recommended database at a time will produce more in-depth results.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Citing Sources

Just a reminder … Academic Code of Honor Handbook. Click here for clear examples of the difference between proper attribution and plagiarism.

-- an online research management, writing and collaboration tool -- is designed to help researchers easily gather, manage, store and share all types of information, as well as generate citations and bibliographies. Create your account and begin using this time-saving tool.

Hesburgh Libraries and The Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement are pleased to announce the 2010 Library Undergraduate Research Award, which aims to promote intellectual discovery and advancement of lifelong learning. The purpose of this award is to recognize undergraduates who demonstrate excellent research skills and who incorporate library resources, collections and services into their scholarly and creative projects.Three prizes will be awarded: one first prize of $1,000 and two honorable mentions of $500 each.

To apply click here.