Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias contain brief factual articles on many subjects.

There are two types of encyclopedias -- general and subject. General encyclopedias provide overviews on a wide variety of topics. Subject encyclopedias contain entries focusing on one field of study.

Use an Encyclopedia

when looking for brief background or overview information on a topic
when trying to find key ideas, important dates or concepts

Examples of WPI Subscriptions

AccessScience McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (subject encyclopedia)
Oxford Music Online (online encyclopedia)
Encyclopedia Britannica Online (general encyclopedia)

Should the Wikipedia be your First Choice?

Use wisely and with a bit of skepticism! Verify using other possibly more reliable sources. Professors at WPI generally don't want to see wikipedia references in bibliographies.

Maintained by lib-webmaster@wpi.edu
Last modified: Mar 20, 2008, 10:30 EDT