The Importance of Background Information for Research

Overview

Finding background information is the best way to start our research. Background information introduces us to a topic, and it can be found in encyclopedias and other reference sources. Background information can:

• Help us narrow our topic
• Introduce us to academic language related to our topic
• Tell us the "who, what, where, when, and why" of the topic
• Provide us with references for other sources on our topic.

Background information sources are found in library print Reference collections and online Reference databases.