Using the right reference materials helps you to:

• Better frame your research question

• Identify key trends

• Identify key individuals in developing major concepts of the field

• Identify key scholars who write in the discipline

• Use authoritative sources

Sometimes you can find the statistics you need in a journal article, but frequently discipline related statistics are gathered and reported in different formats.

• National Center for Education Statistics 
• NCES Fast Facts
• Nations's Report Card
• Public School Review

The Library Catalog provides access to reference books as well as traditional collections of essays and monographs.  The following searches show how you might limit your search to a particular type of reference.

• Education Handbooks
   
• Education Encyclopedias
   
• Education Biographies
   
• Education Dictionaries