Why use Specialized Encyclopedias?
Subject Encyclopedias are great for
- choosing a topic
- educating yourself quickly
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, vocabulary, terminology
- bibliographies of critical sources
Recommended
Use authoritative dictionaries and reference sources.
Wikipedia might be a handy tool in some cases, but it's not what your professors would call a reliable or authoritative reference source. The library resources listed below provide access to scholarly information on a range of subjects. Use the Library Subject Guides to find many more.
- Oxford Research Encyclopedias: Latin American HistoryHighly recommended starting point for research.
- Oxford Bibliographies OnlinePeer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on specific topics in a range of subject areas.
- Sage Reference OnlineReference books published by SAGE, including such areas as African American studies, aging & anthropology, business and management, communication and media studies, counseling and psychotherapy, criminology and criminal justice, economics, education, environment, family studies, gender & sexuality studies, geography, health and social welfare, history, politics and international relations, psychology, research methods and evaluation, science, philosophy, and theology, sociology, and urban studies and planning.
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.