Tips
Encyclopedias are great for:
- choosing a topic
- educating yourself quickly
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, vocabulary, terminology
- bibliography
Archaeology & Medieval Studies
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlineDeveloped cooperatively with scholars and librarians worldwide, Oxford Bibliographies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource guides researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.
- Oxford Handbooks Online: Scholarly Research Reviews"Each Handbook offers thorough introductions to topics and a critical survey of the current state of scholarship in a particular field of study, creating an original conception of the field and setting the agenda for new research. The articles review the key issues and major debates, and provide an argument for how those debates might evolve."
Cambridge Histories
- Cambridge Histories OnlineProvides full text online access to the complete 300-plus volumes of Cambridge Histories reference series. Provides political, economic and social history, philosophy and literature of selected countries and subjects.
Medieval Encyclopedias
The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon EnglandPublication Date: 2013Articles written by scholars covering the people, places, activities, and creations of the Anglo-Saxons. Updated and expanded.
Medieval Italy: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2003Online edition:
Volume I : A-K, Volume II : L-Z Cross-disciplinary resource on literature, history, the arts, science, philosophy, and religion in Italy between A.D. 450 and 1375.
Medieval Islamic Civilization: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2005Online:
Volume I : A-K, Volume II : L-Z Two volumes, illustrated. Covers fields such as Arabic languages, Arabic literature, architecture, art history, history, history of science, Islamic arts, Islamic studies, Middle Eastern studies, Near Eastern studies, politics, religion, Semitic studies, theology, and more.
The Oxford Dictionary of ByzantiumPublication Date: 1991Three-volume, comprehensive dictionary of Byzantine civilization.
Trade, Travel, and Exploration in the Middle Ages: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2000Covers the peoples, places, technologies, and intellectual concepts that contributed to trade, travel and exploration during the Middle Ages, from the years A.D. 525 to 1492.
Medieval France: an EncyclopediaISBN: 0824044444Publication Date: 1995Covers the political, intellectual, literary, and musical history of the country from the early fifth century to the late 15th.
Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2006
The Oxford Handbook of Women and Gender in Medieval EuropePublication Date: 2013
Medieval Iberia: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2002Focuses on the Iberian kingdoms from the fall of the Roman Empire to the aftermath of the Reconquista.
Medieval Jewish Civilization: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2002Medieval Jewish civilization, from the fall of the Roman Empire to about 1492.
New Catholic EncyclopediaPublication Date: 2002
The Oxford Dictionary of SaintsISBN: 019860629XConcise accounts of the lives, cults, and artistic associations of over 1,400 saints.- Encyclopedia of Early ChristianityCall Number: Olin Library Reference, + BR162.2 .E56 1997Publication Date: 1997
Medieval Scandinavia: an EncyclopediaPublication Date: 1993Religion, education, politics and law, culture and material life, history, literature, and art. A valuable and absorbing volume for students of the Norse sagas, the Viking age, and Old English history and literature, and more.- Medieval Archaeology: an EncyclopediaCall Number: Olin Reference D125.M42x 2001+
Medieval England: An EncyclopediaPublication Date: 1998All aspects of life and culture in medieval England-art, architecture, law, literature, kings, commoners, women, music, commerce, technology, warfare, religion, and many others.
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle AgesPublication Date: 2010Four volumes. Key aspects of European history, society, religion, and culture from 500 to 1500. Since neighbouring areas of Asia and North Africa impinged on and helped shape the civilization of the West, relevant aspects ofthe Byzantine Empire, the Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples such as the Avars and the Mongols are included.- Dictionary of the Middle AgesCall Number: Olin Library Reference, D114 .D55 +Publication Date: 1982
Superior to Wikipedia on most topics & disciplines:
English Language and its history: OED
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) The dictionary that is scholar's preferred source; it goes far beyond definitions.