Reference resources include publications such as: dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks, biographies, directories, and atlases. They are published in print or electronically and are often discipline-specific. They provide a broad overview and background information of a topic. They help you understand the key issues, history, and sometimes, latest debates on a topic without going through dozens of books, journal articles, and other materials. They can also help you develop a mind map on a topic and learn keywords and terminologies for further research.
What are reference tools?
Reference works can help you:
These are located on the shelf in the Reference section of the Library:
Encyclopedia of American Activism by 
Gambling in America: an Encyclopedia by 
Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights by 
Debates on U. S. Immigration by 
Collections or individual reference books available online. Just click the links below and search for your topic.
The Routledge History of Police Brutality in America by 
International migration and citizenship today by 
The International Encyclopedia of Gambling by 
Everyone Is African by
What does science say about race? In this book a distinguished research geneticist presents abundant evidence showing that traditional notions about distinct racial differences have little scientific foundation. In short, racism is not just morally wrong; it has no basis in fact. The author lucidly describes in detail the factors that have led to the current scientific consensus about race. Both geneticists and anthropologists now generally agree that the human species originated in sub-Saharan Africa and darkly pigmented skin was the ancestral state of humanity. Moreover, worldwide human diversity is so complex that discrete races cannot be genetically defined. And for individuals, ancestry is more scientifically meaningful than race. Separate chapters are devoted to controversial topics- skin color and the scientific reasons for the differences; why ancestry is more important to individual health than race; intelligence and human diversity; and evolutionary perspectives on the persistence of racism. This is an enlightening book that goes a long way toward dispelling the irrational notions at the heart of racism.
