Excerpt from a reference article on the business/environment topic: Ecotourism
Reference articles provide definitions and an intro to issues and terminology.
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Reference articles provide overviews of history, issues, debates, and stakeholders.
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Reference sources often provide leads to further reading in key resources:
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To gather background information that provides context, history, and an oversight of issues related to your subject.
To find definitions, concepts, and specialized terminology.
To gather keywords (or keywords) you can use to search for relevant source material on the subject.