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Are encyclopedias still relevant in this digital age?

Marissa Levis
English Teacher
Marissa Levis is an English Teacher in the Morris County Vocational School District. She previously worked as an English director at a tutoring center that caters to students in elementary and middle school. She is an expert in creating a curriculum that helps students advance their skills in secondary-level English, focusing on MLA formatting, reading comprehension, writing skills, editing and proofreading, literary analysis, standardized test preparation, and journalism topics. Marissa received her Master of Arts in Teaching from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Marissa Levis

English Teacher

Expert Answer

Encyclopedias are still incredibly useful. When I'm teaching, some students feel uncertain about where to begin their research, but having access to either an updated print encyclopedia or a digital version provides valuable guidance. The key is to use specific keywords to narrow down your search and locate relevant information efficiently. It's also a good idea to explore related topics and secondary contexts.

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Question

How do you find a date in the encyclopedia? For example, how would I look up the 1500s?

Community Answer

Numbers typically come before letters. If they aren't in the front, check the index. Google 1500s for possible topics if you can't find anything. It may be too broad a topic for some encyclopedias.

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Question

For a question like "How many legs does a spider have?", what do I do?

Craftsmart

Top Answerer

Find the section of the main topic of your question. So for "How many legs does a spider have?", go to the entry on "Spiders." If that does not have the information, try another topic with a different subject in the question, such as "legs" or a related category such as "arachnids."

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What is the quickest way of finding information in a multi-volume encyclopedia?

Community Answer

The volumes are arranged alphabetically, as are the contents within. Look for the volume that covers the range of the alphabet where your topic falls, then flip through the pages to get to where your topic falls alphabetically within the volume. If your encyclopedia set is not arranged alphabetically then one volume will be an Index, which will be alphabetical. Use that to find the volume and page number of your topic, usually shown as volume number:page range (e.g. 3:365-374).

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What do the words at the top of an encyclopedia page mean?

Community Answer

They are often the first words and the last words, so you know the "range" of topics on those pages. They help you find your word by making the alphabetic order easier to understand.

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