LibGuides: Reference: Encyclopedias

Online Resources

Free Online Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of Life The purpose of this resource is to increase awareness and understanding of living nature through an Encyclopedia of Life that gathers, generates, and shares knowledge in an open, freely accessible and trusted digital resource.
Encyclopedia of Symbols, Signs & Flags. This online encyclopedia contains information about symbols, signs, flags and glyphs arranged into categories. This collection is comprised of a wide variety of symbols such as ancient symbols, currency signs, ashanti adinkra, and awareness ribbons. This website is a part of the STANDS4 Network, which includes other encyclopedias on topics such as lyrics, grammar, biographies, quotes, and zip codes & places.
Encyclopedia of Television The Encyclopedia of Television includes more than 1,000 original essays from more than 250 contributors and examines specific programs and people, historic moments and trends, major policy disputes and such topics as networks, trends, themes and personalities. It also includes histories of major television networks as well as broadcasting systems around the world and is complemented by resource materials, photos and bibliographical information.
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Encyclopedia Archive Archived entries from the GLBTQ Encyclopedia which was the largest GLBTQ encyclopedia until the website closed in August 2015. Information included covers many aspects of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender culture. You can choose from four different sections: arts, literature, social sciences and history, and essays and interviews.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new window The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a dynamic reference work and is an open access publishing project of the Metaphysics Research Lab at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at Stanford University. The encyclopedia comprises scholarly entries by leading scholars in the field and is growing continually.

Wikipedia A free, collaborative, multilingual Internet encyclopedia supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles (over 3.8 million in English alone) have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site, and it has about 100,000 regularly active contributors.

Electronic Books

E-book Encyclopedias

The 9/11 Encyclopedia by Stephen E. Atkins
ISBN: 9781849724814
Building Law Encyclopaedia by David Chappell; Michael Dunn; Michael Cowlin
ISBN: 9781444309898
Encyclopedia of Archaeology by Deborah M. Pearsall (Editor)
ISBN: 9781849725224
The Encyclopedia of Positive Psychology by Shane J. Lopez (Editor)
ISBN: 1405161256
Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict by Lester R. Kurtz (Editor)
ISBN: 9781849723930

About Encyclopedias

ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Encyclopedias are a great place to start when looking for information on a given subject by summarizing general knowledge available. These sources are arranged alphabetically but indexes are the best place to locate all the pages where a topic is discussed. Encyclopedias can cover a broad range of topics (general encyclopedias) or focus one a more specific topic (subject encyclopedias).

Subject Encyclopedias

The UWSP library owns a wide variety of subject encyclopedias that can be used for more detailed information. You can search for specific encyclopedias using Search@UW. Below are a few examples the the subject encyclopedias the UWSP Library owns.

Encyclopedia of American Environmental History
Call Number: Ref. GE150 .E53 2011
ISBN: 9780816067930
Encyclopedia of Drug Policy
Call Number: Ref. HV5825 .E494 2011
ISBN: 9781412976954
Encyclopedia of Microbiology
Call Number: Ref. QR9 .M33 2011
ISBN: 9780816073641
The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture
Call Number: Ref. N6260 .G75 2009
ISBN: 9780195309911

General Encyclopedias

While subject encyclopedias provide information on one specific topic, general encyclopedias provide background information on a wide variety of topics. Examples of general encyclopedias the UWSP library owns are listed below.

Encyclopedia Americana
Call Number: Ref. AE5 .E333 2005
ISBN: 0717201384
The World Book Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. AE5 .W55 2006
ISBN: 0716601060
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica
Call Number: Ref. AE5 .E363 2007
ISBN: 1593392923