Psychology dictionaries help to clarify terminology by providing definitions of terms. These can also be a good source of potential keywords for searches in the catalog or databases.

• APA Dictionary of Psychology.
  Publisher: Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2007.
  Location: MAIN Reference
  Call Number: 150.3 A639
• The Cambridge Dictionary of Psychology.
  Publisher: Leiden: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
  Online Access: click for full text
• A Dictionary of Psychology.
  Publisher: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009.
  Online: via click for full text
• The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology. 3rd. ed.
  Publisher: New York: Penguin Books, 2001.
  Location: MAIN Core
  Call Number: 150.321 R291p 2001
  Online: via click for full text

Encyclopedias are alphabetically arranged collections of articles that provide background information on key concepts, theories, and measures. They are a great place to start exploring a paper topic. Here are just a few.

• Encyclopedia of Psychology.
  Publisher: New York: American Psychological Association & Oxford University Press, 2000.
  Call number: MAIN Reference & SCHAFFNER Reference 150.3 E564
  Online: via PsycBOOKS vol.1 (A-B), vol.2 (C-D), vol.3 (E-G), vol.4 (H-L), vol.5 (M-O), vol.6 (P-R), vol.7 (R-S), vol.8 (T-Z)
• The Concise Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology and Behavioral Science.
  Publisher: Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2005.
  Online: via Credo Reference
• Elsevier's Dictionary of Psychological Theories.
  Publisher: Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2008.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 150.3 E49
  Online: via Credo Reference
• Encyclopedia of Behavioral Neuroscience.
  Publisher: London; Burlington, MA: Academic Press, 2010.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 612.8 E56
  Online: via ScienceDirect
• Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology.
  Publisher: San Diego, CA: Elsevier, 2004.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference L 158.03 E56
  Online: via Credo Reference
• Encyclopedia of Social Psychology.
  Publisher: Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2007.
  Online: Gale Virtual Reference Library
• International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences.
  Publisher: Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2001.
  Call Number: MAIN Reference 300.3 I61
  Online: via Gale Virtual Reference Library