Begin your Research with Credo Reference

If you are looking for topic ideas or general information about a particular subject, the Credo Reference database is a good one to use. It contains full-text entries from a multitude of reference sources, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, manuals, handbooks, and more.

To access Credo Reference, click on the A-Z Databases icon under Quick Links on the Library’s homepage. This will bring you to an alphabetical list of all of our databases. Scroll down to Credo and select it. Since Credo is a subscription database, you will need to enter a username and password if you are off campus. To find this information, log into Harcum Hatch and you will see a purple icon for Library Database Passwords on the righthand side of the bottom row. Click on this icon and choose the username and password for Credo Reference.

Credo is easy to search. Simply enter the database and type your topic into the search box.

You will then be taken to a page with a list of results from various reference works. There are drop-down menus that you can use to limit your results by subject, date, length, and media type. An advanced searching option is also available that will allow you to do a more refined search with your keywords. The links on the results page contain information about the topic that you entered, and many also feature a bibliography. You can track down the sources listed in the bibliography for further research. Credo also provides you with the citation of your chosen item in APA or MLA format.

Articles can be saved, printed, or shared (by link or email). In addition, they can be read aloud or translated into different languages.

Another useful feature that you will find on the results page is a Mind Map of your topic. The Mind Map contains the term that you searched at the center with related terms branching out from it. The related terms are hyperlinked to their own list of resources, which can provide you with additional topic ideas, more aspects of the same topic, or ways of narrowing your focus. Find the Mind Map for the subject of Nursing below:

More detailed instruction on the contents and use of Credo Reference can be found in our video database tutorial. Choose Database Tutorials under the Research Services menu on the Library’s homepage and then select Credo Reference. Note that while Credo Reference is a good database to use to begin your research, the information that you will find in it will tend to be basic. You should always search further for more in-depth and/or academic resources.

Remember that if you have questions about this resource or any other, please don’t hesitate to ask us. You may visit the Library during the hours posted on the Library's homepage, email us at library@harcum.edu, use our chat service when it is available, or call us at 610-526-6085.