Guides: PAID 111 Section 22: Tillman (Fall 2025): Home

Getting Started With Reference

Reference sources:

Provide background information
Get you familiar with terms and keywords and related topics for a particular subject
Help you choose, broaden, or narrow a research topic

Preus Library has both print and online reference sources. For online reference sources, you can click links in this guide or in the catalog and go directly to the material. If you see a Call Number listed (example: RA423 .L39 2015), then we own the book as a physical copy. The prefix "Ref" means the book is in the reference section. The print reference books are located on the Main Floor near Writing Help.

Assigned Reference Sources for Activity Part 1:

Look up the term "Westernizers".

Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation
Call Number: Ref DK36 .S285 2010

Publication Date: 2010

Look up information on Dostoevsky.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Russia and the Former Soviet Union
Call Number: Ref DK14 .C35 1994

Publication Date: 1994

Look up information on utopianism.

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
Call Number: Ref CB9 .N49 2005

Publication Date: 2004

Look up information about Fedor Dostoevskii.

Reference Guide to Russian Literature
Call Number: Ref PG2940 .R44 1998

Publication Date: 1998

Look up information about The Crystal Palace.

Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era
Call Number: Ref DA550 .E527 2004

Publication Date: 2003

Online Reference Databases for Activity Part 2:

Gale Virtual Reference Library
A collection of over 3,000 reference works, covering all disciplines.
Credo Reference
An online collection of over 600 full-text reference works, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, and more.
Oxford Reference Online
This online source provides access to subject and language reference works from Oxford University Press. In addition to text, access is provided to maps and illustrations, timelines, web sites, and bibliographies.

Library of Congress Classification

Call numbers are assigned to each book in the library to help us group them by topic and locate them efficiently. Here at Preus (and in most academic libraries) we use the Library of Congress Classification system.

A call number is basically a book's GPS location within the library. When you find a book you want to read, you'll need the book's call number, so write it down or have it handy. The call number is printed vertically on the book itself (as seen in the graphic below), but you may see it displayed in the catalog as one line: RA423 .L39 2015.