Research Tips
Use Reference databases to identify and access encyclopedias and other sources to find background information on your research topics.
In the Library Catalog combine keywords like "encyclopedia" or "dictionary" or "handbook" or "guidebook" or "introduction" with other keywords related to your topic.
Look for bibliographies and cross-references at the end of encyclopedia articles.
Use words and phrases that you find in your encyclopedias as keywords in new searches in the Library Catalog, Google, or other subject databases.
Online Dictionaries
What is a bodkin?
Use Google for quick checks on spelling and definitions.
(e.g. define sestina or def sestina)
For more detailed analysis, use the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
To Wiki or Not to Wiki?
You have all used Wikipedia. It can be a good starting place for your research, but dare to explore further....
There are thousands of both general and specialized subject encyclopedias--digital and print.
If you need information on a topic that you are not familiar with, try starting with an encyclopedia article to learn essential facts, figures, and background on your subject.
Digital and Analog Encyclopedias
Use these Reference databases to find and access articles in a variety of encyclopedias and subject dictionaries:
A searchable collection containing 100 reference sources including subject dictionaries, encyclopedias, biographical sources and quotations. Contains over 150,000 entries of facts, words, concepts, and people.
- Dictionary of Shakespeare. Louise McConnell. Teddington, Middlesex : Peter Collin, 2000.
A database of full text reference encylopedias and dictionaries for the Arts, Business, History, Law, Medicine, Religion, and Social Sciences.
This databases contains over 100 language and subject dictionaries and reference works of Oxford University Press. Covers general reference, language, science and medicine, humanities and social sciences, business and professional subjects.
- A Dictionary of Shakespeare. Stanley Wells, with the assistance of James Shaw. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1998.
A searchable database of back-of-the-book indexes to subject encyclopedias and other reference works in a wide variety of subject areas. Search the contents of more than 4,500 reference titles.
Shakespeare Reference Books
There are hundreds of reference books about Shakespeare. Some are in the Reference areas of Olin and Uris Libraries. Many others are in the stacks.
The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare - Dobson, Michael, gen. ed., and Stanley Wells
Call Number: Olin Library Reference PR2892 .O94 2001+
ISBN/ISSN: 0198117353
"Comprising more than 3000 entries, it covers topics such as Shakespeare's biography, legend, works, literary features and terms, individuals (both real and fictional), and a host of topics such as Elizabethan and Jacobean literature and theater, which help put in context both the times and the works. Of particular note are the entries on each play, which include scene-by-scene explanations as well as examinations of the play's particular artistic features, critical history, and stage and screen history, and a listing of recent editions and selected criticism." (Library Journal)
All Things Shakespeare: An Encyclopedia of Shakespeare's World
Call Number: Uris Library Reference PR2892 .O56x 2002
ISBN/ISSN: 0313315035
This encyclopedia describes Shakespeare's physical environment, including subjects such as "coins, clothing, food, drink, animals, occupations, architectural methods, symbolism, agriculture, and rites of passage of the Renaissance." (Introduction) The 200-plus entries include references to the plays, acts, and scenes in which Shakespeare mentions the item or activity being discussed.
Shakespeare databases
Here are two Shakespeare databases. Go to Find Articles/Databases for many more database options.
- Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare
The complete text of eleven major editions of Shakespeare’s works. - World Shakespeare Bibliography Online A database consisting of the most comprehensive record of Shakespeare-related scholarship and theatrical productions published or produced worldwide between 1962 and 2009.
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