Page 517 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing

encyclopedias include Encyclopedia Britannica, Compton’s
Encyclopedia, Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, and

World Book Encyclopedia.

Subject encyclopedias focus on one specific area and go into

greater depth than general encyclopedias. Examples of subject

encyclopedias include the Encyclopedia of Social Work, the
Encyclopedia of Educational Research, the AMA Encyclopedia of

Medicine, and the Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War.

Books go into great depth and may be written by authorities in a

particular field. Unless the books have been recently published,

however, they may not contain the most recent information.

Periodicals are publications such as newspapers, magazines, and

scholarly journals that are published on a regular basis—daily,

monthly, or quarterly, for example. Newspapers and magazines are

written for the general public, while journals are written for scholars in
a particular field. Recent periodicals of all types will contain current,

up-to-date information.

Subscription and CD-ROM Databases

Most college libraries offer students access to subscription databases

and CD-ROM databases from vendors such as EBSCOhost, GaleNet,

FirstSearch, and ProQuest. Some of the more widely used databases,
which may be available from one or more of the vendors, include

ABI/INFORM, Academic Search Premier, ERIC, Medline, and