Dictionaries help to clarify terminology and can be a good source of potential keywords for searching.

• The American Political Dictionary. 11th. ed.
  Publisher: Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers, 2002.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 320.973 P712a 2002
• A Dictionary of Economics. 2nd ed.
  Publisher: Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 330.03 B627d 2002
  Online Access: click for full text
• Dictionary of Public Policy and Administration.
  Publisher: Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2004.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference & SCHAFFNER Reference 320.603 S525d
• The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics Online. 2nd ed.
  Publisher: Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2008.
  Online Access: click for full text

Encyclopedias provide further detail and explanations of concepts, as well as background on key events, people and places related to the topic you are researching. Encyclopedias also provide references to additional readings for more information.

• Encyclopedia of Urban Studies.
  Publisher: Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE Publications,2010.
  Online Access: click for full text
• Encyclopedia of the City.
  Publisher: London ; New York : Routledge, 2005.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 307.7603 E563
• Encyclopedia of Urban Cultures : Cities and Cultures Around the World.
  Publisher: Danbury, CT : Grolier, 2002.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 307.7603 E56
• Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration.
  Publisher: Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2006.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 307.24089 E56
  Online Access: click for full text
• The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
  Publisher: Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2008.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 330.03 C744
• Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy. 2nd ed.
  Publisher: Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis, 2008.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 320.97303 E563 2008