As you begin your research you may not be completely sure what path your research should take. This is where background research can be very helpful. Background research is pre-research and reading. The goal is to learn enough about a topic or discipline to choose a topic or research question to explore in more depth.
Taking some time to do background research has many benefits.
- You'll learn about major events, advancements, and disagreements in a field or discipline.
- You'll discover new and specific keywords you can use for your database searches.
- You'll uncover new directions to take your research.
- You'll learn about major scholars and seminal works in the field.
Explore the resources on this page to get started with background research. If you're new to disability research, consider reading the Models of Disability and Accessibility Laws pages for additional background information.
Reference Databases
- Sage Knowledge This link opens in a new windowAn expansive range of SAGE eBook and eReference and video content: reference works, academic books, professional development titles and more.
- Gale Virtual Reference Library (Opens in new window)A collection of encyclopedias covering topics in the Arts, Biography, Business, Environment, History, Literature, Medicine, Multicultural Studies, Nation and World, Science and Social Sciences.
- Britannica Academic (Encyclopedia Britannica) This link opens in a new windowScholarly encyclopedia on a range of topics. Signed articles, references.
Disability Advocates
It's important for non-disabled people engaging in disability and accessibility research to listen to people with lived experience of disability. Below is a short list of Disability Advocates who talk about their experiences to get you started.
Books for Background Research
Barriers and Belonging (Opens in new window) by ISBN: 9781439913871Publication Date: 2017-02-06What is the direct impact that disability studies has on the lives of disabled people today? The editors and contributors to this essential anthology, Barriers and Belonging, provide thirty-seven personal narratives that explore what it means to be disabled and why the field of disability studies matters.
Disability Visibility (Opens in new window) by ISBN: 9781984899422Publication Date: 2020-06-30Activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This anthology gives a glimpse into the rich complexity of the disabled experience, highlighting the passions, talents, and everyday lives of this community. It invites readers to question their own understandings. It celebrates and documents disability culture in the now. It looks to the future and the past with hope and love.
Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies (Opens in new window) by ISBN: 9781138365308Publication Date: 2019-11-05This fully revised and expanded second edition of the Routledge Handbook of Disability Studies takes a multidisciplinary approach to disability and provides an authoritative and up-to-date overview of the main issues in the field around the world today.
Handbook of Disability Studies (Opens in new window) by ISBN: 9780761916529Publication Date: 2001-05-24This path-breaking international handbook of disability studies signals the emergence of a vital new area of scholarship, social policy and activism. Drawing on the insights of disability scholars around the world and the creative advice of an international editorial board, the book engages the reader in the critical issues and debates framing disability studies and places them in an historical and cultural context.
