Definitions and Overviews

For definitions and explanations of terms, consider using an encyclopedia or other reference book. In addition to open websites like Wikipedia and Britannica.com, you have access to specialized subject encyclopedias and reference databases through the library.

For example, for the Module 5 discussion you might want to find information about various types of algorithms. You could start by searching for "algorithms" or for a specific type of algorithm online, but you're more likely find a credible overview article in the library resources. Here's an example:

Algorithm article from AccessScience
Hsieh, Samuel C. “Algorithm.” Feb. 2025, AccessScience, McGraw Hill, https://doi-org.ezproxy.stlcc.edu/10.1036/1097-8542.022150.

Try searching in some of these library reference books and databases for more definitions and overviews:

AccessScience
Collection of science reference materials including articles, videos, and animations.

AccessScience is a collection of science reference materials with full search capabilities of the 10th edition of the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology and Research Updates from the McGraw-Hill Yearbooks of Science & Technology. AccessScience also includes access to 110,000+ definitions from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, biographies of scientists, late-breaking science and technology news, and bibliographies containing more than 28,000 literature citations. It provides links to evaluated related learning resources including web sites, study guides, and images. Includes a Q&A section that is updated weekly.
Credo Reference
Online reference library that provides access to a large selection of reference books.

Online reference library that provides access to a growing selection of reference books. Includes encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, books of quotations, and a range of subject-specific titles from art to accountancy and literature to law. Credo Reference generates a network of cross-references that provide an easy-to-follow trail to related information contained anywhere within the library.

Credo Reference Subject Guides

Principles of Computer Science by Salem Press
Publication Date: 2017

Encyclopedia; unlimited access for STLCC.