Skip to Main Content Library Homepage College Homepage
Research Guides

Peace and Justice Studies: Get Started

Why Use Reference Sources?

Reference sources include encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries.  They are a great place to begin your research, since they can help with the following:

  • Offer ideas for possible research topics
  • Give you background information on your topic
  • Define unfamiliar terms
  • Suggest keywords to use when searching for books and articles
  • Point you to books and articles on your topic, via "works cited" lists

Starting Points

Browse our full list of online encyclopedias on war, terrorism, and peace:

Start Your Search


 
Limit to: audio

Picking a Topic

Use these tips to help you choose a research topic:

  • To brainstorm ideas to research, try browsing:
  • Do some initial searching on one or more topic ideas, using our main library search box or Google.
  • Refine your topic based on what you find:
    • Maybe you found a slight variation or different direction you want to go in.
    • Tons of results? Consider narrowing your topic to focus on a smaller aspect of it.
    • Hardly any results? You may need to broaden your topic and make it less specific.
  • In the end, choose something you're interested in.

If you want to discuss topic ideas, stop by the Reference Desk to chat with a librarian.

General Search Tips

These search tips work in our library databases and Library Catalog:

  • Combine keywords using AND and OR.
    • Use AND for searching different ideas within your topic. E.g. refugee AND Yemen
    • Use OR for searching with synonyms of your keywords. E.g. (refugee OR OR asylum OR migrant) AND Yemen
  • Abbreviate words with multiple endings using an asterisk (*). E.g. Yemen* to search Yemen and Yemen's and Yemeni.
  • Search specific phrases using quotation marks. E.g. "first asylum"
  • Change your search terms around to get different results.

Reference Databases

Browse topic ideas and get background information:

Ask a Librarian!

Contact the Reference Desk

email Email askanselm@anselm.edu
Chat Chat
smartphone Text (603) 556-8883
 phone Call (603) 641-7306
calendar Make an Appointment

 

Reference Desk Hours

Sunday 2PM - 10PM
Monday 11AM - 10PM
Tuesday 11AM - 10PM
Wednesday      11AM - 10PM
Thursday 11AM - 5PM
Friday 11AM - 3PM
Saturday 12PM - 5PM

Background Info on Countries