Asian Studies: Topical Overviews
Encyclopedias, Directories, Handbooks
- Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) This link opens in a new windowFull-text entries from encyclopedias and reference works published by Gale Group More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- Cambridge Histories Online This link opens in a new windowsee Cambridge Core More InfoPartial Full-Text UB ONLY
- Daily Life through History This link opens in a new windowInformation regarding the daily lives of people from civilizations and cultures of the past and present. More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy This link opens in a new windowOnline version of Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. More InfoFull-Text UB ONLY
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) This link opens in a new window
Librarian
Why use an encyclopedia?
1. To relatively quickly acquire an authoritative overview of a topic.
2. As an aid to building a bibliography, that is, finding other sources to explore.
Wikipedia -- Useful as a Beginning But NEVER as an End
Wikipedia can be a very useful starting point but never an endpoint. Be sure to corroborate Wikipedia information with information found in more predictable sources. Wikipedia portals are listed below, portals aggregate entries topically. You may get ideas for research topics by visiting them. The best way to search for entries/information though is simply by performing a Google search: include the term Wikipedia and the topic; for instance, Wikipedia Japan. "And" is not necessary -- it is assumed by Wikipedia.