Subject vs. General Encyclopedias

Image of a set of encyclopedias in the libraryphoto by Katy Dichter

Many of us are familiar with encyclopedia titles such as World Book, Britannica, or Americana. These are what we call general encyclopedias because they have entries on general topics in all subjects. Wikipedia is an example of a general online encyclopedia.

A college library typically will have one or two general encyclopedia sets, but the majority of the Reference collection will be subject encyclopedias. Subject encyclopedias cover background information on one particular topic and are academically-oriented.

Here are a few of the many titles of subject encyclopedias in our collection:

  • Encyclopedia of Human Behavior (online)
  • Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics (online and print)
  • Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life (online and print)
  • The SAGE Encyclopedia of Contemporary Early Childhood Education (online)
  • The Encyclopedia of Psychology (print)