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Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without
September 10th, 2007 — GideonThis is the first in a five part series across the blog Student Help Forum and Scholastici.us: Student Productivity Week. See Part II tomorrow at Student Help Forum.
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You may not know this, but there are actually a number of great references available to you that aren’t Wikipedia. Now, don’t get me wrong - I love Wikipedia, too. Whenever I first begin a project I almost always go and overview it through Wikipedia. It’s a great introduction to a subject, also connecting you easily to other related ideas, people and places.
But it’s not all you have. Now, put aside the enormous amount of electronic resources your school gives you access to that you never use, this is mostly resources anyone can use (with a couple of notable exceptions). Some even make use of Wikipedia, though not in the usual way. We’ll start with general resources, and then get down to the resources available to a few specific disciplines.
Encyclopedia Britannica - I know it seems awfully “old school” but this site is an excellent source of information and much more authoritative than Wikipedia.
Scholarpedia - A step up from both Wikipedia and Citizendium in terms of scholarly respectability, it doesn’t have nearly as much information, but the articles have all been written by experts with peer review. An academic paradise!
Okay, two sources that your college probably gives you access to. If you aren’t a student, sorry… but these are too good to ignore. You’ll need to see your local school librarian to see how to access these (or you may have a library website you can access it through.)
JSTOR - You know all those stuffy journals around your professors office? And those articles in your course packets? This is pretty much that. For research it enormously useful.
Oxford English Dictionary - The definitive resource when it comes to the English language. Not just for English majors, the OED (as it’s known) is useful for almost anyone in the social sciences.
Wikiseek - When you absolutely, positively, must have the real thing - WikiSeek is Wikipedia with a better search engine. I would also suggest WikiMindMap for when you’re trying to get a better holistic grasp of a subject.
References for Specific Disciplines
Online Education Database - This is a strange site, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it - but this link lists over 100 specific search and research tools, often relevant to specific subjects.
MathWorld - if you have the great misfortune of having to take math, then this site can be of great help. Everything mathematics from Geometry to Calculus is covered by this site in great detail.
GeoHive and Fedstats - These are both statistics sites, so if you need to know how many people. Fedstats allows public access to public agency statistics. Geohive is a bit cooler, primarily providing global statistics (gender populations, coal reserves, etc). I know, it’s so exciting I can’t stand it.
Theoi and Encyclopedia of Mythology - Both excellent resources on the subject of mythology and ancient religions. This is useful information all across the humanities.
Glossary of Poetic Forms - This will help you get through that English Literature class. You too can know the difference between a Canto and a Cento.
Now, if you’re in my fields - these next three are excellent resources.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Foldop - Both of these are excellent sources on just about anything philosophy related. I use the Stanford site all the time.
Religion Online - If you are a scholar of religion this is an excellent, excellent resource filled with many primary texts.
So there we have it. Twenty excellent reference sites that aren’t Wikipedia. And guess what? This is just the tip of the iceberg. You can find excellent resource sites for almost any field or subject imaginable.
September 10th, 2007 at 8:38 am
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September 10th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
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September 12th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
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September 12th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
[…] Más allá de Wikipedia Septiembre 12, 2007 Posted by Radamés in Búsqueda de Información, Páginas Web, Educación. trackback Si tu fuente de información primaria es la Wikipedia, vale la pena que explores estas 20 alternativas que nos ofrece Scholastici.us. […]
September 12th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
“Encylopedia Britannica - I know it seems awfully “old school” but this site is an excellent source of information and much more authoritative than Wikipedia.”
Prove it. I say they’re about the same - here’s my proof.
http://news.com.com/2100-1038_3-5997332.html
September 12th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
[…] Wikipedia already? Here’s 20 non-Wikipedia online references for researchers and […]
September 12th, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I also recommend http://www.bookrags.com/ which combines over 100 student encyclopedias and other resources.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Why is it that everyone everywhere always references Jstor when it comes to journal articles? Jstor is *NOT* the be all and end all of journal databases. In fact, it doesn’t even have the most up to date articles, due to publisher agreements.
To get access to more journal articles than you ever believed possible, check with your college or university library to see which databases they subscribe to. While you’re at it, make an appointment with your friendly reference librarian, who can help you find the information you are looking for.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
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September 12th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
[…] September 12, 2007 Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without Posted by Sarah under Professional Resources , Teens , E-Books , All , Education http://www.scholastici.us/2007/09/10/beyond-wikipedia-20-references-you-cant-do-without/ […]
September 12th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Another great site with country-level statistics is IndexMundi (http://www.indexmundi.com/). It has data from the CIA Factbook enhanced with ranking and comparison charts.
September 12th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
[…] Scholastici.us gives 20 additional references. […]
September 12th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
For science students at research level:
http://arxiv.org/
Adorable!
September 12th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
[…] in Education, Daily life at 2:49 pm by LeisureGuy A useful post containing 20 reference sites beyond Wikipedia: Bartleby - This site has far more than quotes, you […]
September 12th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
[…] Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without | Scholastici.us: Student Productivity At… You may not know this, but there are actually a number of great references available to you that isn’t Wikipedia. Now, don’t get me wrong - I love Wikipedia, too. Whenever I first begin a project I almost always go and overview it through Wikipedia. It’s a great introduction to a subject, also connecting you easily to other related ideas, people and places. […]
September 12th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
@cephyn - I’ve followed all that quite a bit, and agree as far as that goes. But in Academia Wikipedia is still facing an uphill battle. Though, to be fair, no one should be citing any sort of encyclopedia.
@rockstarlibrarian - I couldn’t agree more. I don’t need to do a lot of periodical research myself, but a lot of it turns up on Blackwell Synergy. That being said, a student should absolutely see what sort of services their campus offers. I’ve tried, with no success, to get our newspaper to do a story on this.
But, as to why I listed it - it comes up a LOT with Google Academic, and I try to keep things like this simple. Almost every school has JSTOR, but if I picked Blackwell or some other - who knows? I actually plan on doing an article one of these days on the subject (schools all being different, it makes this a difficult assignment.) If you are, indeed, a librarian - perhaps we can discuss it sometime.
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Thanks for all the additional links everyone! I’ll no doubt do a follow up at some point, and will be sure to include these great resources!
September 12th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
[…] Beyond Wikipedia Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without (tags: reference research education learning) […]
September 12th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
[…] Scholastici.us has a great article on 20 reference resources for students that are NOT Wikipedia. You may not know this, but there are actually a number of great references available to you that isn’t Wikipedia. Now, don’t get me wrong - I love Wikipedia, too. Whenever I first begin a project I almost always go and overview it through Wikipedia. It’s a great introduction to a subject, also connecting you easily to other related ideas, people and places. […]
September 12th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
[…] source […]
September 12th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
I absolutely am a librarian. Email me if you want to discuss it.
September 12th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
You didn’t mention Perseus?! ;)
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/
For those of us interested in classical “Western” history and languages, it is one the best sites for online texts, dictionaries, lexicons, etc.
-Adam
September 13th, 2007 at 1:25 am
[…] Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without A collection of 20 reference sources on the internet. (tags: reference information index research education learning) This was written by del.icio.us. Posted on Wednesday, September 12, 2007, at 11:24 pm. Filed under Infobits. Bookmark the permalink. Follow comments here with the RSS feed. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment. […]
September 13th, 2007 at 3:21 am
There’s also PubMed for the professional researcher.
September 13th, 2007 at 4:36 am
It may sound very funny but my lecturer at university vehemently opposed on the use of wikipedia for research purposes. He even gave me bad marks for that once…so I think it is better and safe to stick to journals when it comes to dissertations and research.
September 13th, 2007 at 5:30 am
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September 13th, 2007 at 7:16 am
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September 13th, 2007 at 7:37 am
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September 13th, 2007 at 11:14 am
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September 13th, 2007 at 11:36 am
You may not know this, but there are actually a number of great references available to you that isn’t Wikipedia.
YOU may not know this, but the proper use of the verb ‘to be’ that sentence is “…that AREN’T WIkipedia.” You might want to add a few grammar sites to that list….
September 13th, 2007 at 11:51 am
CityTownInfo is better than ePodunk. It goes beyond just republishing government data and actually analyzes it. Look at a city profile page there and see the “trophy” and “led” displays comparing the city to others like it, e.g.
September 13th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
[…] Wikipedia already? Here’s 20 non-Wikipedia online references for researchers and […]
September 13th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
How about thefreedictionary.com?
September 14th, 2007 at 2:04 am
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September 14th, 2007 at 4:09 am
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September 14th, 2007 at 5:58 am
“ePodunk - If you’re looking for information regarding a city or place, it doesn’t get much better than ePodunk.”
Ok, there are cities outside of the America, right? Ever heard of Asia, Europe, etc. there’s gotta be cities there. So perhaps it (whatever it is) might get somewhat better than ePodunk.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:56 am
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September 14th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
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September 14th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
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September 17th, 2007 at 3:14 am
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September 17th, 2007 at 10:20 am
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September 17th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
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September 17th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
Voice of the Shuttle http://vos.ucsb.edu/index.asp
still has some of the best resources on English literature around.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
> If you are a scholar of religion this is an excellent, excellent resource filled with many primary texts
Should read “If you are a scholar of Christianity…” There is little to nothing on other religions.
September 24th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
I respectfully disagree. I’m certainly not a scholar of Christianity (and, indeed, have avoided Christian studies as much as possible because I find them dull), but a lot of these writers are far more far reaching than Christianity, even though they are Christian writers. Paul Tillich, Nieburr, Kierkegaard and Whitehead immediately springs to mind. This site obviously is generally regarding interfaces of Christianity, but in the West and western studies of religion, this is rather important. Ultimately, it is an enormous collection of texts and articles that would do most scholars of religion rather nicely. As a religious studies major myself (and, btw, not a Christian) I’ve found the site immensely useful.
Also, if you study religions, outside of a graduate program - you WILL spend some time on Christianity.
September 24th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
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September 25th, 2007 at 11:22 am
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September 30th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
[…] Beyond Wikipedia: 20 References You Can’t Do Without by Gideon AddingtonThere are some lesser known references which could add value to your learning process such as Scholarpedia and GeoHive. […]
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:19 am
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February 19th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
One new source of info that seems to have been overlooked are educational documentaries downloaded from the Bit Torrent file sharing network. http://Www.mvgroup.org has a wide selection to choose from, but with the Olympics taking place in Beijing this year, the selection of films over at http://www.chinadocumentaries.com is excellent.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
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March 5th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
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