Encyclopedias and General Knowledge

Websites for this Topic | Research guides and databases

Databases

Databases with the image may be used from outside the Library.
All other databases are available in the Library only.

CultureGrams
Experience the cultures of 190 countries and territories in reports that include maps, statsistics, and in-depth information on 25 categories.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
A database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.

Grolier Online
The database includes seven encyclopedia databases: Encyclopedia America, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, The New Book of Knowledge, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, America the Beautiful, Lands and Peoples, and The New Book of Popular Science.

LearningExpress
The LearningExpress Library is a comprehensive, interactive online learning tool that includes practice tests and tutorials.

Newsbank
Full-text articles from Illinois newspapers and America's news magazines. Special features include Hot Topics and Special Reports.

SIRS Discoverer
A general reference database that is especially for children in grades 1-9. Includes World Almanac for Kids, Encyclopedia Britannica and 5,000+ prescreened links on Discoverer Webfind.

World Book Online
The popular World book encyclopedia in an online, multimedia format that includes articles, printable maps, and pictures.

Websites

Wikipedia
"Wikipedia is a free content encyclopedia that is being written collaboratively by contributors from all around the world." The quality of the content on this site varies dramatically because of the lack of editorial oversight, but it is worth exploring.

Columbia Encyclopedia
From bartleby.com, this online version of the sixth edition, updated 2005 of the popular encyclopedia is searchable and browsable.