Research Guides Dictionaries Encyclopedias Databases Home

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research guides dictionaries encyclopedias databases home

Welcome to the Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Lib Guide! This guide serves as your starting point, helping you quickly find the information needed to begin research effectively. Whether you need to define an unfamiliar term, gain better understanding of a topic, or dive into more specialized topics, dictionaries and encyclopedias are great tools. This guide provides a selection of resources to assist you in your research journey. Dictionaries and encyclopedias are powerful tools that can enhance the research process, specifically when starting out or needing clarity. They serve as resources for defining terms, or gaining background knowledge on a field of study.

Take a moment to watch the video below to learn more about when and how to effectively use these resources. Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812 | 406-243-6866 | Contact Us While thousands of our encyclopedias are available online, some reference works are only available in print. All titles are included in Muscat Plus. You may also browse by subject using their call numbers. If you're looking for an encyclopedia or dictionary on a specific topic, stop at the Research Help Desk on the main floor for assistance.

For information on countries or cities including current national profiles and statistical data see Country & City Info. For additional language dictionaries check the research guides for various area studies and languages such as Scandinavian Studies, Russian Language & Literature, and China Studies. To find additional encyclopedias and dictionaries, both print and online, use UW Libraries Search. Other options for identifying encyclopedias and dictionaries: For foreign language dictionaries, see the respective subject guide. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

| Details of our policy Georgetown University Library 37th & O Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20057-1174 202-687-7607 This page contains definitions of and examples of different types of reference sources including almanacs, atlases, bibliographies, biographies, chronologies, dictionaries, directories, encyclopedias, handbooks, and indexes. Almanacs are not usually used for extensive research , but are good for looking up specific facts, statistics, tables and lists about people, places, events, countries, organizations, zip codes, and popular culture such as...

Generally, almanacs cover a broad period of time, while Yearbooks, which contain similar information, only cover a given year. Atlases contain an organized group of pictorial or illustrated political, cultural, physical, road, and/or thematic maps. Atlases may be organized around a specific subject, theme, or geographic area. Bibliographies compile comprehensive lists of resources that share one or more common attributes about a particular subject, person, geographical area, etc. Some bibliographies also briefly describe the resources that are listed. One should consult a bibliography when they want citations that will guide them to specific resources.

Biographies contain information about people, both living and deceased - they can contain brief summaries of data about individuals, contain lists of citations of resources about a person, or be full length books detailing... Biographies may cover general important figures, or may be organized thematically/geographically, etc. One would use a biography to look up facts or detailed information about a person or group of people. Subject encyclopedias contain concise essays on specific topics that may be hard to find elsewhere or that screen massive quantities of publications (i.e., Shakespeare) and summarize the current thinking, and present the most useful... Historical and topical survey articles set a clear and understandable context for further research work. Useful for undergraduates or for specialists looking for authoritative information outside their own discipline.

Reference encyclopedias are an excellent source of research paper topics on a given subject. Scholarly encyclopedia article authors select and cite books and articles useful for further reading and research on a topic. Article titles, article essays, and index entries are a good source of synonyms for subject searching and of alternative forms of proper names (wars, persons, geography) that may produce more relevant search results than... Use this guide. Choose a broad subject area to begin. All images used in McDermott Library Research Guides are sourced from CC0, no attribution licenses unless otherwise cited.

Research Guides Dictionaries Encyclopedias Databases Home

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Welcome To The Dictionaries And Encyclopedias Lib Guide! This Guide

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For Information On Countries Or Cities Including Current National Profiles

| Details Of Our Policy Georgetown University Library 37th &

Generally, Almanacs Cover A Broad Period Of Time, While Yearbooks,