BROWSE these pages for reference works like bibliographies, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. Use these resources to become familiar with key works and scholarly trends. 

• Reference books may be found in many locations. Be sure to double-check the catalog record since copies of a work may be available in the History of Science Collections, in Bizzell or a branch library, and/or as an eBook. 
• When searching for reference works in the online catalog use terms like: "encyclopedia"/"guide"/"dictionary"/ "bibliography" 
• You can search for eReference works by browsing under the E-Reference Materials tab (the tab next to the "Databases" tab as you search the A-Z list of databases).

• Remember to look at general reference works and reference books beyond History of Science. See: Reference Materials (by Laurie Scrivener, History/Area Studies Librarian).

INDEXES

Can't find an entry on your topic in a reference book? Then check in index at the back.

For example, the encyclopedia Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine does not have a separate entry on "rainbow."  But, in the index you will find citations to pages where the rainbow is discussed:

These page numbers after Rainbow lead you to entries on "Ibn al-Haytham," "Optics and Catoptrics," and "Theodoric of Freiberg"