Jane Austen

Reference books are designed for accessing specific facts or information and can take many different forms, such as:

• Indexes
• Dictionaries
• Encyclopedias
• Bibliographies
• Almanacs
• Directories
• Handbooks

In other words, reference books can provide you with great background information. 

Reference books at the HJF Learning Center are located in their own section on the second floor. You will know if a book is considered to be reference by its call number. All reference book call numbers begin with an "R."

Reference books may be used within the library only. They cannot be borrowed or taken out of the library. You may also copy pages or information you need from a reference book.

You can also search for reference information here:

• Funk & Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia
• Encyclopedia Britannica

Examples of some of the related reference books we have in the library are listed to the left. Ebooks are listed to the right.
 

Check out the library's catalog or our ebook collection to find more reference and background resources on women or minorities and literature. You can also try searching for a specific topic, but often books that contain background information are broad. Remember this when choosing search terms.
 

Some subject terms in our ebook collection you can search by:

• LITERARY CRITICISM / Women authors
• Women and literature -- England -- History -- 19th century
• Women and literature -- England -- History -- 18th century
• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's studies
• Narration (Rhetoric) -- History -- 19th century
• English fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism
• Romanticism -- Great Britain
• English -- 19th century -- Family relationships
• Young women -- fiction
   

Also try searching keywords related to broad concepts, such as:

• Romanticism
• Women authors
• Titles of her novels, such as Emma or Northanger Abbey
• Feminist theory
• Regency England
• 18th century English literature
• 19th century English literature

If you need some more ideas, you can always talk with your professor or a librarian.