Encyclopedias

• Wikipedia readers should know reports on the potential for unreliable research and documentation of sources in Wikipedia, as described in the following essay. Open access and free: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/wikipedia-hoax-bicholim-conflict_n_2432633.html

• Catholic Encyclopedia, a vital, authoritative resource for the information about the middle ages. Open access, free, and searchable at the The New Advent website:  http://www.newadvent.org/bible/

• Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. Joseph Reese. Strayer. New York : Scribner, 1982. 13 Volumes + Index. Print only, available at LSU–Middleton Library, Reference.

• Der NeuePauly/Brill’s New Pauly – available in print at LSU’s Middleton Library (Reference section); subscription required to access electronically– unavailable at LSU http://www.brill.com/publications/online-resources/new-pauly-online

• Encyclopaedia Britannica, the edition of 1911. This edition, in spite of its date, remains a valuable resource for information about medieval civilization. Free and open online access at the following sites.  A paper issue of the entire set of the 1911 is held in the English Department at LSU, Allen Hall, room 113 (Thomas Kirby Seminar Room).

  • Study Light.org: Browsable easily by alphabetical listings:  http://www.studylight.org/enc/bri/

   

  • Project Gutenberg.org offers HTML, EPUB, and Kindle versions of the 1911 edition. Browsable by volumes, parts, and slices, but without identification of the alphabetical categories in each volume: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/search/?query=Encyclopaedia+Britannica%2C+11th+Edition

   

  • Archive.org: Browsable by volume, but users need the program DJVU to download the volumes.

• International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online (IEMA) – a new supplement to the Lexikon desMittelalters; produced under the joint auspices of the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and Brepols Publishers. Subscription required to access electronically–unavailable at LSU.  International Encyclopaedia for the Middle Ages-Online

• Internet Enclyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP). A peer-reviewed academic resource.  Free and open access online. Searchable and browsable. The IEP was founded in 1995 as a non-profit organization to provide detailed, scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy.  http://www.iep.utm.edu/

• Lexikon des Mittelalters online (LexMA) – research tool for medievalists of all disciplines; LexMA’s articles cover all aspects of medieval studies: its geographical scope covers the whole of Europe, part of the Middle East, and parts of North Africa to document the roots of Western culture and those of its neighbours in the Byzantine, Arab and Jewish worlds. LexMA has been enhanced through the inclusion of English keywords and an integral translation tool. Available in print at LSU’s Middleton Library (Reference section); electronic subscription required through Brepols

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography – available in print at LSU’s Middleton Library (Reference section); subscription required to access electronically– unavailable at LSU http://www.oxforddnb.com

• Oxford Index – open access; free discovery service allows you to search across Oxford’s digital academic content

• Suda Online – open access; Suda is a massive 10th century Byzantine Greek historical encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, derived from the scholia to critical editions of canonical works and from compilations by yet earlier authors. Features translations, annotations, bibliography, and automatically generated links to a number of other important electronic resources. Of the 30,000-odd entries in the lexicon, over 25,000 have been translated as of this date http://www.stoa.org/sol