Dictionaries & Encyclopedias
Jump to: Why to use them | How to find them | How to cite them | A word on Wikipedia
Why to use Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
- Great tool for getting to know vocabulary and basic concepts (a good addition to Wikipedia)
- They cover super-specific subjects as well as broad ones (examples: religion, witchcraft, textiles, animation, symbols, Buddhism, sociolinguistics, the unexplained, and so much more...)
- Typically written and edited by scholars at the forefront of their field
- Often provide references for further reading
- Intentionally easy to navigate and understand
- Also look out for:
- Atlases: They can be straightforward geographic atlases, or have more layers of information. You may also enjoy artists' atlases.
- For example: The Atlas of Global Inequalities or Cultural Atlas of Islam
- Guidebooks/Handbooks: Often intended to guide the learner and provide advice for operating in a specific discipline.
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Dictionaries and encyclopedias are still found in book form, sometimes in multi-volume sets. Africana: the encyclopedia of the African and African American experience, edited by Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is an example of an encyclopedia you can use at Fleet Library. |
There are also online databases for this type of source. Credo Reference is a great one to use when you start looking for encyclopedia and dictionary articles online. |
How to find them
Online: Credo Reference contains dictionary and encyclopedia articles on a huge variety of topics. Oxford English Dictionary is the authoritative English language dictionary. If you can't find your topic, try searching a broader idea (for example, change your search from "Calais Jungle" to "refugee camps"). You can always get more specific later, when you look at news and articles.
In print: search the library catalog for "your topic" + "encyclopedia" or "dictionary"
How to cite them
- Chicago style: Author-Date | Notes & Bibliography
- MLA style
- APA style
- If you got your article through Credo or another database, use the automatic citation tools they provide!
By now, you may have heard from some of your professors that Wikipedia is unreliable and they won't accept it as a source for your paper. They make the rules... BUT... I'm going to share a few ways that you CAN use Wikipedia.
- Use it to get more familiar with key words, concepts, and people when you're just learning about a topic.
- Use it to find linked ideas - context - that will help broaden your research.
- Use it for the HUGE amount of citations and references at the bottom of each article!
While you shouldn't cite Wikipedia directly, its editors must cite their own sources. They just made your work easier! Follow the trail of references for sources to read and cite in your own writing. Note: You can - and should - use encyclopedias for this too.