Lesson 3 Contents:

Learning Objectives

I. What are Reference Sources?
* The Reference Collection

II. General and Subject Encyclopedias
* The Use of Encyclopedias in the Research Process
* The Neutral Viewpoint Offered by Encyclopedias

III. Key Points to Remember

Lesson Three Quiz

Lesson Three Exercise

II. GENERAL AND SUBJECT ENCYCLOPEDIAS

Among the many types of reference sources, there is one that plays a crucial role in the research process and deserves our special attention: the encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is a publication that provides an organized collection of explanatory articles of varying length. Sometimes dozens, or hundreds, of authors write articles for an encyclopedia. In print format, encyclopedias can be one volume or multiple volume sets.

There are two types of encyclopedias:

• General encyclopedias include articles on nearly any topic, i.e. all fields of knowledge. World Book and Encyclopedia Britannica are just two examples of general encyclopedias.

  
  a general encyclopedia

• Subject encyclopedias focus on a single subject or discipline. They can cover very broad subject areas, such as The McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, or very specific subjects, such as The Encyclopedia of the Consumer Movement. Thousands of subject encyclopedias exist in both print and computerized format, usually providing more in-depth discussions than general encyclopedias.

  

Listed below are just a few of the hundreds of subject encyclopedias available in print format in the Reference Collection at Skyline Library:

THE USE OF ENCYCLOPEDIAS IN THE RESEARCH PROCESS

It is not desirable or even possible to write a research paper based only on encyclopedia articles. In fact, some teachers prohibit their use altogether because many students are tempted to rely on them too heavily and ignore other important sources of information. But if used appropriately, encyclopedias can be extremely helpful in your research.

Encyclopedias are crucial information sources during steps 2 and 3 of the research process. Let’s look at how encyclopedias are helpful during each of these steps.

* The Research Process -- Step 2: Gain a general overview of your subject.

Begin your research by reading a basic introduction to your subject. Encyclopedia articles are ideal for such an overview because they provide:

• background information
• definitions of key terms
• explanations of key concepts and basic principles
• summaries of controversial issues and key events
• explanation of work done by important scholars
• history and current scholarly state of the subject
• statistics, facts, dates, etc.
• key publications
• illustrations
• bibliography of items for further reading

The last item on the above list is very important. Encyclopedia articles often include a bibliography at the end of the article, or sometimes at the end of each article section. This is a list of books and articles that the author of the encyclopedia article is recommending for further reading. It’s a good idea to write down the most relevant items from an encyclopedia bibliography so that you can pursue them later in your research.

Given below is an example of a bibliography that appears at the end of an encyclopedia article on the subject of rock music. Notice that the author(s) or editor(s) of the book is given first, followed by the title (in italics), publisher, and date of publication.

In addition to offering a general overview and providing a bibliography, encyclopedia articles are also helpful in step 2 because they contain words and phrases that denote important aspects of your topic. These terms often come in handy later in the research process (step 5) when you are searching various indexes and catalogs. Therefore, pay special attention to any unique subject words and write them down.

Encyclopedia articles are also helpful during step 3 of the research process:

* The Research Process -- Step 3: Narrow and shape your subject into a specific research question.

Encyclopedia articles can help you narrow your subject into a research question. When reading through an article, see if you can discover a specific angle, aspect, controversial issue, dilemma, historical event, important person, or time period you'd like to pursue. This specific idea or issue could become your focused research question.

For example, let’s say you’ve decided to write a research paper on the American Revolution. Obviously, this is a very broad subject, not a research question. To get some ideas for a research question, you decide to use the Encyclopedia Americana (a general encyclopedia) to find an overview of this subject. You find an article entitled “American Revolution” and begin by examining the article’s table of contents, given below. This outline of the article gives you many ideas for narrow topics, including four that you believe have the most potential for being shaped into an interesting and appropriately focused research question. (Your four choices are indicated with arrows.)

Before going further, you read the introduction to the entire article in order to get the broadest overview of the American Revolution. Then you carefully read the four sections of the article you identified earlier. The information in these sections helps you come up with four appropriately focused research questions, and you choose the one that interests you most:

• How did the economic constraints of the British colonial system influence the drive toward American Independence?
  
• How did the Colonial Army eventually acquire the character of a trained professional military force and defeat a superior army?
  
• How did the American alliance with France influence the course of the war?
  
• What philosophical and political impact did the signing of the Declaration of Independence have on the course of the American Revolution?

As this example illustrates, when you are narrowing your subject into a research question, encyclopedia articles are invaluable.

THE NEUTRAL VIEWPOINT OFFERED BY ENCYCLOPEDIAS

A final thought about the use of encyclopedias when doing research. Although encyclopedia articles are usually written by experts and respected authorities, they tend to provide the most neutral, widely accepted scholarly views and perspectives. One valid criticism of encyclopedia articles, therefore, is that they tend to neglect or gloss over controversial or minority views on a subject. Thus, it is important to remember that any form of communication, even encyclopedia articles, reflects an author's ideological biases and disciplinary stance and should be evaluated as carefully as any other source. Lesson 10 will discuss further how to evaluate sources.