An encyclopedia is a book with a collection of information
about many subjects. What is an encyclopedia exactly?
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Sometimes, an encyclopedia has general information about many
different subject areas. Sometimes an encyclopedia focuses on only
one subject; for example, the Encyclopedia of Fish.
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Sometimes an encyclopedia is only one book or volume.
Sometimes, it is many volumes. For example, an encyclopedia may be
2, 5 or 10 volumes.
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Or even 30 volumes !
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Usually, articles are organized in alphabetical order. But
sometimes, information is organized in another way. For example, an
encyclopedia about animals might be organized by species.
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Usually an encyclopedia is not written by only one person. Many
people come together to write an encyclopedia. Who writes
encyclopedias?
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So, usually information in an encyclopedia is accurate or
dependable. People who write articles or entries in an encyclopedia
are usually experts and well-educated people.
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If the authors name is noted, it usually appears at the end of
an article. But, sometimes the author is not noted. The person who
manages all the authors of an encyclopedia is called an
EDITOR.
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Go to the online library catalog : library.hct.ac.ae How do you
know what encyclopedias are in the library?
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Type encyclopedia Click : Search. Choose your location from the
drop down menu.
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You will get a list of all the encyclopedias in your library.
Some of them will be on the regular shelves but some of them will
be in the REFERENCE SECTION.
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You may only use a reference book in the library. You cannot
check it out. You will see the word Reference under location.
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HCT also has e-book encyclopedias. When you see the e-book
icon, just click on it.
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You can also get online encyclopedias from the collection of
Databases. From library.hct.ac.ae pull down the Resources menu,
click Databases and e-books.
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Scroll down to Dictionaries and Encyclopedias. Choose one and
click on it.
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This is a great resource for students. It has many videos &
an Arabic translation feature. For example, the Britannica Online
School Edition.
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Mouse over a word & the Arabic will appear. Unfortunately,
not all words are translated & sometimes the translation is a
bit strange. At the end of an article, you will see an orange color
box Turn on Arabic Translator
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It shows you how to write the citation for the article in both
MLA and APA styles. Another great feature of the Britannica Online
School Edition is: To cite this page
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Information in this edition is more detailed and the vocabulary
is more advanced. There is another version of this online
encyclopedia called Britannica Online Academic Edition.
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Link to it from the Database page. Do you remember? Go to
library.hct.ac.ae From Resources, go to Databases. Here is another
online encyclopedia : eLibrary.
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Link to it from the Database page. Here is another one : The
Gale Virtual Reference Library.
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Link to it from the Database page. And, here is another one :
The Student Resource Center Gold.
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Should an encyclopedia be your ONLY source of information for a
research project? Encyclopedias are wonderful books but information
in them is usually a summary from other sources. When doing
research, it is important to go to the original source.
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Because, it takes a long time to write and publish an
encyclopedia, it may not have the most recent information on a
subject. Online encyclopedias may have more current information
than print ones if they are updated regularly.
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Ask your teacher or your friendly librarian if you have any
questions. I hope this helps you find information in
encyclopedias.
