Why use Encyclopedias and Dictionaries?
1. Authoritative Summaries As a student, you probably do not have a complete understanding of the subject you will be investigating. Even experienced scholars entering a new field or investigating a new subject should use subject encyclopedias as a research aid. An authoritative summary such as that contained in a good subject encyclopedia will give you an overview of the topic, assist you in narrowing the scope of your search, define commonly used terms, and provide a bibliography of important sources. One other good reason to look for these authoritative summaries is to find out if there is enough information on your topic to write a research paper. If in looking through several of the important subject encyclopedias in the area you find little or no information, you may want to consider changing your topic. It is better to abandon a dead-end topic early, before you have invested too much time in it. A list of important encyclopedias and dictionaries for public justice are found in t
