Sage provides online Encyclopedias, Handbooks and Dictionaries that cover topics in the Social Sciences.
Tertiary sources are excellent starting points! They consist of information synthesized from primary and secondary sources. Examples include:
These resources give you succinct overviews of your topic, explain scholarly arguments, point out interesting questions, and refer you to especially key sources.
Gale Virtual Reference Library includes the full text of over 100 subject encyclopedias spanning multiple disciplines.