CHAPTER 3:

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

This chapter tells how encyclopedias can help in your research.

 

In the previous chapter, we emphasize that you should immediately turn your research topic into a research question. But what if you can't? What if you have heard about a topic or been assigned a topic by your instructor, but you simply don't know enough about it to think of a question? When this happens, think encyclopedias!

The word encyclopedia is derived from the language of ancient Greece. Translated, it means a walk around the circle of learning. Modern encyclopedias accomplish this "walk" by providing alphabetically arranged articles or essays on a comprehensive range of topics. 
 
Encyclopedias can be divided into two groups: (1) general encyclopedias and (2) subject encyclopedias.

1) General encyclopedias cover the whole range of human knowledge. Authors of topical discussions (called articles) are experts, but they know they are writing for beginners. So the information is reliable and authoritative, but you don't have to be an expert to understand it.  Encyclopedia articles usually are relatively brief and intended to provide an overview of basic terms and concepts and important people associated with a subject. Articles also often refer you to related articles in the encyclopedia and related books and articles in magazines and scholarly periodicals. 

General encyclopedias are published in many different countries and languages. Three popular English language encyclopedias are:

        COLLIER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA 24 VOLS. (ref AE5.C683 1992)
        ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA 30 VOLS. (ref AE5.E333 1993)
        ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA 32 VOLS. (ref AE5.E363 1995)

ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA is the most famous English language encyclopedia. First published in 1768, it is now available by subscription on the Internet. In fact, more and more encyclopedias are becoming available on the Internet. Many of these are free, include lavish audiovisual effects, and also link you to related Internet sites. The main problem with Internet encyclopedias is that they link you to so much information and give you so many paths to follow that you easily can get lost in the maze. Printed encyclopedias are very easy to use. 
 
[WARNING! Excessive reliance on general encyclopedias is hazardous to your grade point average. Whether in print or on the Internet, many general encyclopedias contain skimpy, superficial information. For this reason, they often are a good place to start your research, but not a good place to stop, unless of course your instructor indicates that general encyclopedia information is adequate for the assignment.] 
 
2) Subject encyclopedias differ from general encyclopedias in that they are subject specific; that is, rather than taking all of human knowledge for their domain, subject encyclopedias aim to encircle only a single subject (e.g., psychology or American history or criminal justice), though usually the subject is broadly defined. 

Since subject encyclopedias deal with only one subject, the individual articles are relatively detailed. They also cover more of the important concepts, theories, methods, noted people, schools of thought, major subdivisions, and technical terms in a subject area than general encyclopedias, and they provide more information on each topic.

Like general encyclopedias, subject encyclopedia articles are written by experts for non-experts, but they do demand a higher level of sophistication and more background knowledge than general encyclopedia articles. For this reason they are most helpful in upper division courses. The reference area contains dozens of fine subject encyclopedias, including:

        ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EDUCATION 10 VOLS. ref LB15.E47
        ENCYCLOPEDIA Of POLICE SCIENCE ref HV7901 .E53
        ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION 16 VOLS. ref BL31.E46

A growing number of subject encyclopedias also are appearing on the Internet. To discover if there is an Internet encyclopedia in your subject area, use an Internet search engine such as Google. Just type in the subject and the word encyclopedia: for example, psychology encyclopedia or American history encyclopedia. 

Click on link to go to the Assignments page and print Assignment THREE

http://library.boisestate.edu/skills/locate/assignments.htm