The purpose of gathering background information is to help you understand your topic in more depth, or perhaps think about a different view or a subtopic that you had not previously considered.
Background sources can also be used to discover keywords that you can use in your searches.
The Reference Collection is located on the second floor of the University Commons and is a good place to begin looking for background information.
The database Credo Reference is also a good place to look for background information on a variety of topics.
Early Childhood Education by 
Encyclopedia of American Education by 
Encyclopedia of Education by 
The Language of Learning by 
Learning Theories by 
Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors by