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Cosmetology

Research resources, tips, and support from SCC librarians

Reference books are encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, and other specially organized books. They're useful for finding summaries, definitions, and quick facts about a topic.

Subject Encyclopedias

Subject encyclopedias are a great first source to use when you begin researching a new topic.Encyclopedia of Environment and Society, 5 volume book set

Written by experts, entries in scholarly, subject encyclopedias give you crucial background information on a topic including:

  • History of a topic
  • Definitions, statistics, & demographics
  • Important researchers and scholars
  • Keywords you can use in further searches
  • References to other sources you can use to expand your research

Databases which contain reference books

Example reference books