Subject Specific Encyclopedias

Finding a Topic? Narrowing a Topic? Need Info in a New Area? Look in an Encyclopedia

When you think of encyclopedias or dictionaries, you probably think of World Book, Britannica, or Websters. But we have encyclopedias, dictionaries, and handbooks that focus on particular topics, with articles by eminent scholars, overviews, providing background to almost anything you need to know about. The reference citations lead you to core articles and conversations between scholars and researchers.

We have many encyclopedias online through the Gale Virtual Reference Library. You can search for topics through all of the articles in all of the encyclopedia we have online at the same time. Or you can browse through them individually by linking to them through the Library Catalog.
The Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood is one of my favorites.

We also have access to the Encyclopedia of Psychology published by the American Psychological Association. (It is browseable by volume only, so the link above only goes to the first volume.) In the next couple of months, we will buy the Encyclopedia of Sociology published by Blackwell and edited by George Ritzer.