Skip to main content

GU-Q: Reference Resources

Quick links to reliable online information to help you solve particular problems or answer specific questions.


Reference resources provide information to solve particular problems or answer specific questions such as learning the definition of a word, finding the capital or population of a country, locating a specific quotation or poem, finding a picture or biography of a particular person, or seeking any other short answer to a research query. 


Access to word lists of spoken and written languages helping users to find pronunciations, division into syllables, definitions, and usage.

Collections of short articles on general rather than specialized subject topics, biographies, and geographic locations, among others, that introduce researchers to the subject and help them with basic information before they begin to research in other resources.

Online reference tools
May include databases that are available only as databases or on the Internet; may offer access to information also available in print formats.

Ready reference books
Entities such as general dictionaries, almanacs, and general encyclopedias that are found in libraries with specialized information about topics that provide brief answers to simple questions.