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. The reference call number is include for those sets also held in print.
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Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict
Call Number: R 303.603 E56 2008Publication Date: 2008Provides information about antagonism and reconciliation in all contexts of public and personal life. Covers topics such as arms control, peace movements, child abuse, folklore, terrorism and political assassinations. -
Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice
Call Number: R 303.484 E5625 2006Publication Date: 2007Designed for readers to understand the topics, concepts, and ideas which motivate and shape the fields of activism, civil engagement, and social justice. Included are short biographies of the major thinkers and leaders who have influenced and continue to influence the study of activism. -
Encyclopedia of Peace Education
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Publication Date: 2008This edited volume serves as an essential reference guide that traces the history and emergence of the field, highlights foundational concepts, contextualizes peace education practice across international and disciplinary borders, and suggests new directions for peace educators. This volume will target undergraduate and graduate students as well as scholars and practitioners working in international and non-governmental organizations in the field of peace education. -
Encyclopedia of American Social Movements
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Publication Date: 2015This four-volume set examines every social movement in American history - from the great struggles for abolition, civil rights, and women's equality to the more specific quests for prohibition, consumer safety, unemployment insurance, and global justice. -
Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare
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Publication Date: 2009With a focused emphasis on fairness and justice for animals evident on every page, Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare: Second Edition offers clear explanations of hot-button topics like puppy mills, endangered species in zoos, no-kill shelters, dog fighting, factory farming and disease, veganism, conservation ethics, wildlife contraception, and more. The encyclopedia also explores a range of religious, ethical, and philosophical views on using animals, as well as the latest research on animal cognition and sentience. -
The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law
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ISBN: 9781306259323Publication Date: 2013-01-01The Practical Guide to Humanitarian Law provides the precise meaning and content for over 200 terms.The volume takes the victim's perspective and those who assist them. Published in cooperation with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres."
Print Encyclopedias
These works are housed in the reference area, if you need assistance locating them please ask at the reference desk
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Encyclopedia of Global Justice
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Call Number: R 320.011 E563 2011Publication Date: 2011Encyclopedia of Global Justice is an international, interdisciplinary, and collaborative project, spanning all the relevant areas of scholarship related to issues of global justice. The nearly 500 entries range from 300 to 5000 words. -
Encyclopedia of Human Rights
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Call Number: R 323.403 E56 2009 (Location: Refernce)Publication Date: 2009“This major five-volume encyclopedia covers all aspects of human rights theory, practice, law, and history. Focusing primarily on developments since 1945, it offers an unrivaled reference source for students and researchers; even human rights experts are likely to find much original material and keen insights in many of the entries.” -
The Encyclopedia of War, 5 Volume Set
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Call Number: R 355.02 E564 2012Publication Date: 2012This award winning 5-volume reference work offers a comprehensive resource covering the history of warfare from ancient times to the present day, across the entire globe. An A-Z format is used, and the entries range from 1,000 to 6,000 words. -
The Oxford Handbook of Peace History
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Call Number: R 303.6609 O984 2023Publication Date: 2023The Oxford Handbook of Peace History offers a comprehensive analysis of peace history from ancient times to the present day. The Handbook explores concepts such as peace activism, internationalism, social justice, and cultures of nonviolence as transformative ideas and policy practices. It also demonstrates how conceptions of peace and approaches to peacemaking have varied and developed since antiquity. -
The Oxford International Encyclopedia of Peace
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Call Number: R 303.66 O984 2010 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 2010This four volume work examines the interdisciplinary field of Peace Studies. Comprehensive in scope it includes key personalities major events, organizations, and theories. Entry are signed and provides top rate bibliographies and cross-referenced. It uses an A-to-Z format along with a peace chronology and important documents. -
World Encyclopedia of Peace
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Call Number: R 327.172 W927 1999 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1999This massive eight volume work was published as a comprehensive work. Entries are extensive with some resembling chapters from academic anthologies. Biographies of contemporary and historic personalities are included. Volume eight contains a bibliography and extensive indexing. -
Human Rights in the United States
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Call Number: R 323.403 C745e 2011Publication Date: 2011This resource surveys the legal protection of human dignity in the United States, examines the sources of human rights norms, cites key legal cases, explains the role of international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and charts global, regional, and UN human rights measures. From publisher description. -
Customary International Humanitarian Law - Practice
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Call Number: R 341.67 C987 2005Publication Date: 2005In 1996, the International Committee of the Red Cross, alongside a range of renowned experts, embarked upon a major international study into current state practice in international humanitarian law in order to identify customary law in this area. Customary International Humanitarian Law, Volume I: Rules and Volume II: Practice, is the result of that study. This original, authoritative work will be an essential tool for anyone involved with international humanitarian law. This covers what is commonly known as the Geneva Conventions of War.
