The Joy of Subject Encyclopedias

It may surprise you that subject encyclopedias are still just as useful in academic research as they were before the internet and rise of Wikipedia. Academic publications written by experts provide an introduction to specific disciplines, concepts, aspects of history, and a wide variety of topics. These handy tomes are a good place to find reliable, easily understood overviews. Carefully sourced and fact-checked by professionals, they are one of our most common suggested starting places for researchers of all levels, from seasoned faculty to undergraduate students. CONTINUE READING

When I was in graduate school studying Library and Information Science, one of my favorite spots in the library was the first-floor reference section where a sizeable collection of subject encyclopedias filled row after row. When I needed a break from my studies, I would often browse those bookshelves and have fun pulling a volume that caught my eye and opening the pages to learn something new just for the joy of it. A glance at the table of contents or skimming through the index reliably revealed terms and ideas with which I was entirely unfamiliar. I might follow up on an interesting name, term, or concept listed by page number. Sometimes I simply opened the pages at random and enjoyed the surprise of reading whatever entry first appeared.

As we strive to meet the ever-evolving information, group work, and study-related needs of our students and faculty, rows and rows of print subject encyclopedias are less of a priority in our library’s physical spaces. You can still find Building the World: Encyclopedia of the Great Building Projects in History, The Grove Encyclopedia of Materials and Techniques in Art, and the Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration on the shelves of Dupré Library.

Our growing digital collection offers access to many more simultaneous users per volume than is possible in print. Digital editions can also be more easily searched and cross referenced with related material. Overall, the library’s print and online collections complement one another. In the case of the Encyclopedia of the Great Black Migration, a three volume 2006 print edition is available in the reference section while an updated 2014 single volume edition of the same work is available online through our library’s EBSCOhost eBook collection.

Most importantly, our digital collections are available around the clock and can be accessed by library users whenever and wherever they might find an opportune moment to study, research, satisfy curiosity, or meet an academic information need. This may be during a professor’s office hours, in a dentist’s office waiting room, or while doing laundry. Our library collection is almost as easily accessible as Wikipedia or a Google search.  All that is needed to open a world of reliable and quickly retrieved summaries and research starters is an internet connection, ULID number, and the same password used to access all online campus services.

When using the main search box on the Dupré Library home page, links to relevant subject encyclopedia entries are featured at the top of most search results pages. There are hundreds of thousands of subject encyclopedias in our library databases, and their contents can orient a researcher to a new topic and provide helpful background information. From the Encyclopedia of Wildfires and Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) Fires to the Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, such volumes are also excellent sources of search terms that an expert might know, but a researcher without prior knowledge would be unlikely to guess.

One of our most outstanding collections of subject encyclopedias can be found in the Credo Reference database. There you can skim the titles and cover images of volumes recently added to the collection, browse by topic, or search for articles. Credo also has a handy mind map feature that allows researchers to explore related ideas, terms, and names. Any one of the related nodes can be clicked to reveal related articles.

It delights me that one of my favorite types of information resources has been made even more accessible for new generations of researchers and folks like me who just like to learn new things for fun. Speaking of accessibility, our digital subject encyclopedias have print that can be adjusted to meet the visual needs of the reader, text-to-speech narration, and other useful features that deliver information in a range of ways to meet the diverse needs of readers.

While I wait for my laundry to dry, I think I’ll open Credo and see what I can learn today. The Adriatic Sea Encyclopedia, Encyclopedia of Social Insects, and Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects all offer interesting entries into worlds I might not have ever otherwise thought to explore.

Jennifer Hamilton
Head of Instructional Services / Assistant Professor
Edith Garland Dupré Library
University of Louisiana at Lafayette