Information Literacy Skills > Encyclopaedias

What is an encyclopaedia?

Encyclopaedias have been a traditional source of information since they appeared in the eighteenth century. They come in various sizes from single volumes to multi-volume versions with up to 30 volumes. They contain articles giving information on all sorts of things including people, places, events and ideas. The articles are listed in alphabetical order by the subject.

Encyclopaedias are available for a range of reading ages and levels, from children to adults and can be found in different languages.

Encyclopaedias can be:

• general - eg. Encarta, Encyclopaedia Britannica, The World Book Encyclopedia, (Note the different spellings Encyclopaedia and Encyclopedia - both are correct).

or

• subject specific - eg. Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland.

Encyclopaedias are produced in both printed and electronic formats. The electronic formats can be disk based or on-line via the Internet. The disk based versions of encyclopaedias are either on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. The DVD-ROM discs are ideal for large encyclopaedias as they can hold nearly ten times as much information as a CD-ROM. On-line versions exist of most of the well-known encyclopaedias. Access however is restricted to those organisations that have paid a subscription fee. Obviously the disk based version also costs money but the advantage of the on-line version is that it can be automatically updated with new articles.

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