Encyclopedias and other reference sources are a good place to start if you need an overview of a topic you are unfamiliar with. They will often include a bibliography of sources that you can consult for more information. The links below lead you to a selection of encyclopedia titles/collections that might be relevant to your topics. Some of the links are to groups of titles from a single publisher--you can select those that seem appropriate to your topic.
Online encyclopedias, dictionaries, and specialized reference sources, primarily in the social sciences and humanities.
Searches multiple literary sources, including: Dictionary of Literary Biography, Literature Criticism Online, Literature Resource Center, Scribner Writer Series, and Twayne's Authors Series. Scroll down to click on Gale's Literary Index, a master index to the major literature products published by Gale.
Spans 25 different subject areas, bringing together 2 million digitized entries across Oxford University Press’s Dictionaries, Companions and Encyclopedias. UC subscription allows limited simultaneous users, so if you can't connect try again later.