Macdonald-Kelce Library: Education: Specialized Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Reference

Specialized Information

Sometimes you need a definition, or statistic, or basic fact for you paper that you can't find in a scholarly article. What can make this doubly frustrating is that sometimes you can find the fact in Wikipedia, but you cannot use Wikipedia in your paper. (See Using Wikipedia for more on how to use this popular resource effectively.)

You can find specialized encyclopedia and dictionaries in:

Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
Access all Oxford's dictionaries, companions, and encyclopedias in one place.
Oxford Reference is a multi-disciplinary database that features a range of short entries, timelines, quotations, and lengthy in-depth reference articles on all topics. Browse by subject or enter a keyword in the search box.
Gale eBooks This link opens in a new window
Comprises a wide variety of ebooks on topics such as the arts, education, law, medicine, and religion.
Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
Offers the complete Encyclopedia Britannica online as well as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus.