Start gathering general information by looking in the Comprehensive Handbook on Social Work and Social Welfare. This 4 volume set covers the profession of social work, human behavior in the social environment, social work practice, and social policy and policy practice. The call # is REF HV40.C635 2008 V.1-4.
You can scan pages of this great reference for use in papers and projects by using the KIC machine on any floor of the library.
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus
Virtual Reference Library 
A collection of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research
Encyclopedia.com
Composed of high-quality articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Encarta (Microsoft)
A gateway to 17,000 encyclopedia articles, multimedia, a talking dictionary, and a world atlas
CREDO Reference Collection [Link to overview and features ] Was Xreferplus Reference Collection
Contains over 2 million entries from reference books in all major subjects, 65,000+ images (art, diagrams, maps, and photos), and over 93,000 audio pronunciation files.
