Why Use Encyclopedias?
Background sources like encyclopedias can provide context for your topic, or even help you choose one. They are great places to start because:
- they explain topics in simpler language than scholarly articles
- they are much shorter (often just a just a page or two, instead of the 20 pages or more found in a scholarly article or the hundreds of pages found in a book)
- they highlight important issues, figures, dates, and/or events that you may want to focus on in your paper or project
- they give you suggested sources for further research in the form of bibliographies or works cited
Online Encyclopedias
The following are recommended encyclopedias in your field. You can read them online 24/7.
"Germany" in Countries and Their CulturesCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2006Presents the cultural similarities within a country that set it apart from others. Surveys each country's shared values, behaviors and cultural variations from foods and rituals to pastimes and arts.
"Germany" in Worldmark Encyclopedia of the NationsCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2012Presents easy-to-understand information on countries and dependencies from around the world. Entries discuss a variety of topics in detail, from banking and securities to climate, from government data to demographic statistics.
Print Encyclopedias
Hutchins Library also has a large collection of print encyclopedias that you can access in person in the Reference area on the main floor.
Deutsches Worterbuch
Call Number: REF 433 G864d
Duden Worterbuch by Call Number: 433 G878 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1980"An unabridged German dictionary containing selective etymologies, parts of speech, pronunciation, and usage labels. The entries are rich in illustrative quotations from the 'classical' German literary tradition, referenced to an extensive source bibliography in the last volume." - Guide to Reference
Deutsches Woerterbuch by Call Number: 433 P324 1992 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1992"A standard work containing substantive historical and regional analyses of German vocabulary and etymologies, with extensive references to sources. An unusual feature is the author's inclusion of a topical index to the dictionary, in which the vocabulary of specific geopolitical and historical usage is enumerated under those headings in a special fore-section of the dictionary: e.g., 'Nationalsozialismus,' 'österreichisch,' and many other groupings." Guide to Reference- The Oxford-Duden Pictorial German-English DictionaryCall Number: 433.2 O98 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1980"A cooperative effort of two highly reputable publishers.... The intention is to help the reader visualize the object denoted by a given word or term. Terms are grouped by 11 broad categories, which are further subdivided into many smaller subjects. The subjects are then illustrated in some 384 plates (chiefly line drawings), with the German terms and English equivalents given on the same or facing page. Detailed analytic German and English indexes allow the dictionary to be used as either German-English or English-German. Covers a wide range of technical and everyday vocabulary." - Guide to Reference
- The New Cassell's German Dictionary by Call Number: 433.2 B565n 1971 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1971-01-01"Betteridge's 1st ed. of this work, entitled The new Cassell's German dictionary (1958) was an almost completely rewritten edition of the work edited for many years by Karl Breul. This publication ... is an expansion and revision of the 1958 edition. Gives phonetic transcriptions of headwords. [T]his is a household name among the useful bilingual dictionaries," - Guide to Reference
Harpercollins German Dictionary by Call Number: 433.21 C713 1997 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1997The third edition of this unabridged dictionary provides in-depth treatment of all areas of German, including extensive coverage of new vocabulary from the fields of computers, business, politics and medicine. The acclaimed Language in Use section, which features authentic context-based examples, has also been updated and redesigned with clearer, user-friendly symbols which allow for easier reference and understanding.Five-Hundred One German Verbs Fully Conjugated in All the Tenses by
Call Number: 438.1 S927f (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1984The most common German verbs, alphabetically arranged, one verb per page, conjugated in all tenses
Dictionary of Modern Theological German by Call Number: 203.31 Z65d (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1982"The only work of its kind in print, ... every word in Stuttgart edition of Luther's translation of the Bible is covered with Scripture references." - Amazon pub. info
German Technical Dictionary by Call Number: 433.1 R869 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1995This volume consists of headwords in both German and English, including abbreviations. Terms are drawn from the whole range of modern applied science and technical terminology. Expertly compiled by an international team of subject terminologists, 65 subject areas are covered, including in-depth treatment of the more established subject areas such as: mechanical engineering, transport, production engineering, electrical engineering, chemistry, computer technology, data processing, physics, electricity, construction, food technology, railway engineering and automotive engineering.
