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Beyond Encarta®—specialty encyclopedias offer good start
Most students in high school become friends with a good, general encyclopedia, such as the "World Book" or Microsoft's "Encarta." College studies, however, require more in-depth information, sometimes more than even a scholarly encyclopedia such as the "Britannica Online" http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/ugl/e-resources/eb.html can provide.
Although major papers will require research using specific books and journal articles, specialty encyclopedias can be an excellent starting point in writing a paper of almost any length. They also are great in simply investigating an area of personal interest. Articles in specialty encyclopedias offer helpful background to better understand a topic before reading more detailed books and articles. They can help focus a topic, making library research more manageable. Often, a very useful list of further reading and Web sites will provide a head start on research.
A number of specialty encyclopedias are available to the UB community, many via subscriptions maintained by the University Libraries.
One of our newest resources, the "Encyclopedia of Life Sciences" http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/e-resources/els.html provides peer-reviewed articles from 5,000 world-renown scientists. Check out the brand new article on "Tropical Forests."
Covering all the sciences and corresponding to the print classic "McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology," "AccessScience" http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/sel/e-resources/as.html contains more than 7,100 articles and 2,000 biographies.
"Grovemusic" http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music/e-resources/newgrove.html provides comprehensive coverage of music, including classical, popular, opera, light, world and jazz. Entries include biographies of composers and articles on styles, terms and musical life in regions. Being an on-line resource, "Grovemusic" is an excellent example of a resource that provides updated bibliographies that are a good place to begin research.
Ever get confused about the difference between an ogre and an orc? The "Encyclopedia Mythica" http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html can help, covering mythology, folklore, magic and legends. The articles are brief, but clear.
Some encyclopedias are regional. Need a Canadian perspective on the Great Depression? Check out the "Canadian Encyclopedia" http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/ with more than 10,000 articles written by a broad base of Canadians who are experts in their individual subjects. Given how much the Middle East has been in the news, the "Encyclopedia of the Orient" http://i-cias.com/e.o/index.htm, which actually covers countries and culture in North Africa and the Middle East, is worth visiting.
Closer to home, the Museum of Broadcast communications has created the "Encyclopedia of Television" http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/index.html. You might want to look up Jamestown, N.Y.'s most famous celebrity, Lucille Ball of "I Love Lucy".
Are you curious about the saints or Catholic perspectives on social issues? The Internet does not disappoint with "The Catholic Encyclopedia" http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/.
Continuing in the philosophical line, the "Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy" http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html offers a wide range of articles from fuzzy logic and the problem of evil to globalization.
This column has tried to provide the reader with a sense of the variety of specialized encyclopedias on the Internet. For more listings of free encyclopedias on the Internet, visit the Michigan E-library Reference Desk created by the State Library of Michigan at http://mel.lib.mi.us/reference/REF-encyclopedias.html.
—A. Ben Wagner, University Libraries