Encyclopedias
You can search across many encyclopedias at once, by searching the collections found on this page (want to find this link later? Start at the library homepage, click A-Z Databases, and then change the All Database Types dropdown to Dictionaries and Encyclopedias).
The collection has several useful sources:
- Credo Reference Online
- Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Oxford Reference Online
- Sage Knowledge
AccessScience, the first one listed on the Encyclopedias page, is quite good if your topic is in the hard sciences.
Encyclopedia Tips
Refining to subject / discipline specific results
Encyclopedias cover a broad range of subject areas. To see results from a specific discipline (e. g., economics, or sociology), limit by subject if possible, as shown below.
What to cite in your bibliography
In the example above, "Globalization" is one of many entries in an edited book called "The Oxford Companion to Politics and the World". So you would want to cite this as an entry in an edited collection. An APA example of this can be found on this Purdue Online Writing Lab page.
P.S. Look for a "cite" button somewhere (often at the bottom of the encyclopedia entry). Most library resources will generate the APA, MLA etc citation for you automatically.
Choosing one encyclopedia entry over another
Choose the more relevant and detailed entry. In the example below, the 3418 word entry from the Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice is probable a better choice than the Dictionary of Sociolinguistics.
