Background information can help you get a feel for the context of a topic, narrow down a general topic, or simply identify words and terms associated with an area of research.
Encyclopedias and other reference resources are useful to consult for these types of information, and might even contain bibliographies to point you toward more sources.
One classic reference source is the Handbook of North American Indians.
Additional materials can be found in the following collections:
Print books or e-books are useful when you need more context or more detail than space allows in a scholarly journal article. A book might offer you a history of your topic, an in-depth case study, a collection of essays by experts in a field, and more. To find books on your topic, start your search from the library catalog, using "Advanced Search" to limit your results to books or e-books.
Check out these videos for more help:
Did you find something you need that we don't own? You can request it (for free) from another library, whether it's an article scan or a book. Just login to your inter-library services account with your A# and password to make your request.