Research Guides: Mathematics and Statistics: Getting Started with Research

Finding Background Information

Reference sources like dictionaries or encyclopedias are ideal sources to consult when you need to learn about a new topic. The library has a variety of mathematics and statistics reference sources.

Subject-specific reference works

Wolfram MathWorld
Assembled by Eric W. Weisstein, Wolfram MathWorld is the web version of the CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics.
Encyclopedia of Mathematics
A wiki-style, open access resource for the mathematics community. The original articles are from the online Encyclopaedia of Mathematics (by E Hazewinkel), but are now open to crowdsourced edits. Also includes the Statprob category for statistics and probability content.
Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics
Presents the essential information about statistical tests, concepts, and analytical methods in language that is accessible to practitioners and students of the vast community using statistics in medicine, engineering, physical science, life science, social science, and business/economics.
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics
3,000 entries providing jargon-free definitions for even the most technical mathematical terms and concepts from pure and applied mathematics and statistics.
Dictionary of Mathematics (English - Spanish || Spanish-English):
Bilingual dictionary includes a glossary of acronyms and abbreviations.
Cambridge Dictionary of Statistics
Includes more than 3,500 definitions in all areas of statistics, including medical, survey, theoretical, applied, etc, and short biographies of more than 100 important statisticians.

Access Science This link opens in a new window
Online version of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, with thousands of illustrations, animations, images and the latest headlines, biographies, and more.

Interdisciplinary reference databases

Gale ebooks This link opens in a new window
Subject encyclopedias, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. Great starting point for overviews, theories, basic concepts, etc.
Sage Knowledge This link opens in a new window
Over 100 online multi-volume reference works, primarily in the social sciences and education. Great starting point for authoritative overviews on thousands of topics.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Offers fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, including Oxford Companions Series. Covers a wide range of fields and includes illustrations, maps, timelines, biographies, and links to authoritative websites.

What about Boolean logic?

Expert searchers use boolean logic to craft very specific searches to help them pinpoint exactly what they're looking for.

University Library

Mathematics and Statistics

SSU Research Notebook

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Finding Background Information

Subject-specific reference works

Interdisciplinary reference databases

What about Boolean logic?