Background information can help you learn more about your topic and build a foundational understanding that allows you to further develop your research question. It is often found in reference works, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, or handbooks. Reference works can be general in nature, such as Educator's Reference Complete, but there also may be reference works that are more specific to your topic. For example, if your research topic deals with teaching online, you will want to look at a resource like the The SAGE Encyclopedia of Online Education, which will provide more focused information and list other potentially relevant sources.

Seeking out background information is often an important early step in the research process. Watch the following video for more information on how it can help you develop your research question:

Video Transcript

You're probably already familiar with one source for general background information: Wikipedia. Though you'll likely not use Wikipedia as a source for your research, it can be helpful for gaining a broader understanding of a topic and potentially lead you to more in-depth sources. For example, if you're researching online teaching, you might start by looking at the Educational technology page. This can help you gain a better sense of the appropriate terminology used, which can inform the keywords you use when searching in the library databases. You can also look to the information they cite to expand the possible sources you can use.

To find this type of background information through the UH Libraries, you can try searching with your related keywords in the following database:

To find other books and sources of background information, try searching keywords associated with your research topic in the main Library Search.