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.
"Spain" 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.
"Iberian Peninsula: Spain" in Encyclopedia of Food and CultureCall Number: E-BookPublication Date: 2003A survey of food and its place in human culture and society. Includes photographs, illustrations, sidebars, recipes, menus, and timelines.
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. Here are a few that we recommend:
International Spanish-English Dictionary by Call Number: 463.2 S596 1997 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1997The most respected Spanish/English dictionary in the world has been completely revised and updated. With over 200,000 entries, it is among the most comprehensive bilingual dictionaries available, covering the latest technical and scientific terms, thousands of regionalisms and idioms, geographic and biographic entries, a complete table of irregular Spanish verbs, elements of grammar, and a guide to pronunciation for both Spanish and English.
The Oxford-Duden Pictorial Spanish and English Dictionary by Call Number: 463.21 O98 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1995This dictionary contains a list of vocabulary relating to a subject together with a picture illustrating that subject. Each double-page spread links the words by number to the picture situation drawn from everyday life. Approximately 384 sections cover a broad range of subjects. It also includes any regional variations in terms used in different countries as well as differences between British and American English. Fully alphabetized indexes refer the reader to the various subjects and contexts in which a word is used, providing not only a guide to the correct translation but also a key to the vocabulary of an entire subject. This title serves as a valuable supplement to bilingual dictionaries for both speakers of English and of Spanish.
The Oxford Spanish Dictionary by Call Number: 463.21 O984 2003 (Location: Reference); CD 463.21 O984 2003 (Location: CD)Publication Date: 2003This brand new edition covers over 24 varieties of Spanish as it is written and spoken throughout the Spanish-speaking world. This edition features 20,000 new entries (10,000 in each language), with the updating focused particularly on business, IT, and scientific terminology. Special entries on life and culture explain the differences between institutions, administrative systems, educational systems, and general life in the Spanish and English-speaking worlds, offering vital background to the language. The accompanying CD contains cutting-edge text-to-speech software. This software enables users to type in any word, phrase, question, or date, and an audio version of the text will immediately pronounce it with appropriate inflection.
501 Spanish Verbs by Call Number: 468.24 K33f 2003 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 2003The most common Spanish verbs, alphabetically arranged, one verb per page, conjugated in all tenses.
Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature by Call Number: 860.099 E56 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1997A comprehensive, encyclopedic guide to the authors, works, and topics crucial to the literature of Central and South America and the Caribbean, the Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature includes over 400 entries written by experts in the field of Latin American studies. Most entries are of 1500 words but the encyclopedia also includes survey articles of up to 10,000 words on the literature of individual countries, of the colonial period, and of ethnic minorities, including the Hispanic communities in the United States. Besides presenting and illuminating the traditional canon, the encyclopedia also stresses the contribution made by women authors and by contemporary writers.The Oxford Companion to Spanish Literature
Call Number: 860.3 O98 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1978A handy reference to Spanish literature and related subjects with coverage from Roman times to the mid-1970s.
Biographical Dictionary of Hispanic Literature in the United States by Call Number: 860.997 B615 (Location: Reference)Publication Date: 1989This dictionary provides an exhaustive reference guide to representative figures in Hispanic literature within the geographic, political, and cultural boundaries of the United States. While concentrating on contemporary writers, it is designed to make accessible to the English-language reader a literary world that has until now been articulated primarily in Spanish. Focusing mainly on Puerto Rican and Cuban writers, each entry summarizes the importance of the subject and indicates the literary genres and themes cultivated. There is a brief biography of each author, an analysis of major works and themes, and a survey of the criticism of the author's works.
