Library Research Guides: COGNITIVE &amp; LINGUISTIC SCIENCES: Find Background Information

Why Use Reference Materials?

for a quick overview of a topic

to develop vocabulary or keywords for searching

for suggestions for further sources

Ethnologue is a detailed resource with information on the world's 7000-plus languages.

Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Search 500+ reference works in all disciplines
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Fully-indexed, extensively linked, up to date, and cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Search across full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books in a variety of subject areas.
Sage Knowledge This link opens in a new window
Search across more than 100 full text encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference works in the social and behavioral sciences.

Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) This link opens in a new window
Regional words, phrases, and pronunciations as they vary across the United States, including definitions, etymologies, and usage. Features clips from over 4,000 audio recordings of interviews carried out in all 50 states as part of the DARE Survey between 1965 and 1970. Browse by region with an interactive map and create your own maps using the DARE survey data.

Language: A Feminist Guide
This is a feminist blog about language (in fact, mostly the English language), written by a feminist who’s also a linguist.
Enduring Voices YouTube Channel
Offers videos of native speakers and musicians of endangered languages.
World Oral Literature Project
The World Oral Literature Project is an urgent global initiative to document and disseminate endangered oral literatures before they disappear without record. The Project supports local communities and committed fieldworkers engaged in the collection and preservation of all forms of oral literature by providing funding for original research, alongside training in fieldwork and digital archiving methods.
Endangered Languages Project
Includes an interactive map of endangered languages, language samples, and other resources.