Background sources, such as specialized encyclopedias and dictionaries, are an essential
piece of the research process. They can help you:
- Gather information about your topic and understand the scope of the research.
- Locate reliable sources and to clarify keywords.
- Pinpoint important authors, texts, ideas, and keywords about the research area—knowing
what the primary phrases and concepts are will help you a lot as you are searching
library databases and online sources.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference is a multi-publisher collection of high-quality reference titles.
Available titles also include a range of multimedia options, including thousands of
high quality diagrams, photographs, maps, and audio files.
Credo includes several books on topics in data science. You can search Credo or view
topic pages. Topic pages are great places to get a broad overview and recommended
readings for your topic.
Search Credo Reference
View Data Science Topic Pages
Print and e-books are valuable sources for academic research. They will help you to
gain an overview of your topic and often contain in-depth information about the scholarship
or history of research on a subject. Some books are written by single authors, while
others include essays or chapters by multiple scholars within a discipline. Don’t
let the length of books intimidate you because you don’t need to read them from cover
to cover. Look at the table of contents and index to find the sections that are relevant
to your work.
Find Books Using GriffinSearch
GriffinSearch is a good starting place if you are looking for books, journal articles,
films, and other materials available in the library. In addition to searching the
Giovale Library catalog for physical materials, GriffinSearch finds e-books and articles
from several of our databases. To get started, search by keyword or type in the title
of a book here:
WorldCat
WorldCat lets you search for books, articles, videos, and other material that are
available in libraries worldwide. If you are doing in-depth research on a topic and
are considering requesting resources through Interlibrary Loan, WorldCat can help
you discover resources that might not be in the Giovale Library collection.
Search WorldCat
Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
Interlibrary Loan is a service where patrons of one library can borrow books and other
materials, and access journal articles that are owned by another library.
Explore Interlibrary Loan Materials
Utah Academic Library Consortium
Giovale Library participates in the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC) and Westminster
College students have reciprocal circulation privileges at UALC …….