Professionally developed subject encyclopedia collection. Similar to Wikipedia yet with articles written by known subject experts.
Credo Reference is a multidisciplinary collection of subject encyclopedias and dictionaries. Developed with beginning researchers in mind, it includes resources to help develop search terms, as well as bibliographies that directly link to the library catalog. A strength is the robust quality of the articles written, while a weakness is that it is missing obscure topics. Subscription.
Broad selection of books for reliable, brief entries on many subjects.
Oxford Reference is a collection of electronic encyclopedias and dictionaries published by Oxford University Press. Its strength comes from Oxford University Press reputation, but many of the results are very short entries. Subscription.
"Features premier titles like The Columbia Encyclopedia, Oxford’s World Encyclopedia, and the Encyclopedia of World Biography....Offers millions of free articles, pictures, facts, and biographies along with information about topics like the arts, science, sports, medicine, accounting, and management."
"Award-winning internet encyclopedia of mythology, folklore, and religion. Here you will find everything from A-gskw to Zveda Vechanyaya, with plenty in between.
The mythology section is divided to six geographical regions: Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe, Middle East, and Oceania. Each region has many clearly defined subdivisions that will ease your search.
The Folklore section contains general folklore, Arthurian legends, and fascinating folktales from many lands."
Art focused full-text source for finding background information about art and artists.
Oxford Art Online provides access to art reference works including the Grove Dictionary of Art and the Benezit Dictionary of Artists. It is a good starting point for studying an artist, school, medium or theme. Articles are often detailed and include bibliographies for further reading. It includes global coverage but is particularly good for western art. Includes images. Subscription.
Definitive English language dictionary; words from 1150 CE to the present day
entries include over 2 million dated quotations from English language history, literature, and records; facts concerning word forms, changes, and etymology
Well-known source for background articles on music, mostly focused on Western Art music, with some coverage of Jazz, non-western and folk music.
Oxford Music Online is a comprehensive encyclopedia of Western art music (i.e. classical music), with general coverage of jazz, non-Western, and folk music. Also includes the Oxford Dictionary of Music and Oxford Companion to Music. Previously known as Grove Music Online. Long a standard source for music. Subscription.
