Annuals, directories and yearbooks provide concise, factual information about organizations, people, current and historical events, state of the discipline research and statistical trends.
These Library resources are an excellent place to start your research as they contain articles that summarize in a few paragraphs what's most important to know about a topic. Look for key concepts, terms, events and the names of people who have done important work on your topic, plus bibliographies to guide your further reading.