Background sources are written for a general audience and are intended to give an overview of a topic, fill gaps in the reader’s knowledge, and provide context for deeper understanding.  Examples include Wikipedia, introductory textbooks, and reference works such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks.  They can be a useful place to start your research and can assist in selecting a topic for a research project, locating basic information and key facts, defining important words and concepts, and getting suggestions for additional sources to consult. 

Typical characteristics of background sources:

• intended to be informative
• provide context, background, or summary information
• present shared information and established facts; information is uncontested  
• offer suggestions for additional sources of information on the topic

PittCat is the main searching tool for all of the materials owned by the University Library System (ULS), including articles, books, ebooks, journal articles, ejournals, audio and video, digital images, government documents, microfilm and movies.

You can request material through PittCat using Get It, even for material that we do not own. You must be signed in and then click on the item you need. Options within the item:

If you have any questions about this, please contact us so we can work with you to try and get the material you need.