Encyclopedia: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

m

Line 9:

An '''encyclopedia''' ([[American English]]) or '''encyclopædia''' ([[British English]]) is a [[reference work]] or [[compendium]] providing summaries of [[knowledge]] either general or special to a particular field or discipline.<ref>{{cite web |title=Encyclopedia. |url=http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/glossaryoflibraryterms.htm#e |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070803182506/http://library.rcc.edu/riverside/glossaryoflibraryterms.htm#e |archive-date=August 3, 2007}} Glossary of Library Terms. Riverside City College, Digital Library/Learning Resource Center. Retrieved on: November 17, 2007.</ref><ref name="what">{{cite web |url=https://eiu.libguides.com/ResearchHelp |title=What are Reference Resources? |website=Eastern Illinois University |access-date=December 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122193111/https://eiu.libguides.com/ResearchHelp |archive-date=November 22, 2022}}</ref> Encyclopedias are divided into [[article (publishing)|articles]] or entries that are arranged [[Alphabetical order|alphabetically]] by article name<ref name="DOLencyclopedia">{{cite book |last1=Hartmann |first1=R. R. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49NZ12icE-QC&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&pg=PA49 |title=Dictionary of Lexicography |last2=James |first2=Gregory |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-415-14143-7 |page=48 |access-date=July 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114034551/https://books.google.com/books?id=49NZ12icE-QC&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&pg=PA49 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |url-status=}}</ref> or by thematic categories, or else are [[Hyperlink|hyperlinked]] and searchable.<ref name="webster">{{cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encyclopedia |title=Encyclopedia |website=Merriam-Webster |access-date=December 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929221816/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/encyclopedia |archive-date=September 29, 2022}}</ref> Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most [[dictionary|dictionaries]].<ref name="DOLencyclopedia" /><ref name="humanities" /> Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on ''[[fact]]ual information'' concerning the subject named in the article's title;<ref name="humanities">{{cite web |last=Bocco |first=Diana |date=August 30, 2022 |title=What is an Encyclopedia? |url=https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-an-encyclopedia.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927200756/https://www.languagehumanities.org/what-is-an-encyclopedia.htm |archive-date=September 27, 2022 |access-date=January 24, 2023 |website=Language Humanities}}</ref> this is unlike dictionary entries, which focus on [[Linguistics|linguistic]] information about [[word]]s, such as their [[etymology]], meaning, [[pronunciation]], use, and [[grammar|grammatical]] forms.<ref name="humanities" /><ref name="bejoint">Béjoint, Henri (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=DJ8gwtomUpMC&dq=lexicography%20translated%20encyclopedia%20dictionary&pg=PA30 ''Modern Lexicography''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230031758/https://books.google.com/books?id=DJ8gwtomUpMC&lpg=PA30&dq=lexicography%20translated%20encyclopedia%20dictionary&pg=PA30 |date=December 30, 2016}}, pp. 30–31. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-829951-6}}</ref><ref name="EB">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Encyclopaedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186603/encyclopaedia |access-date=July 27, 2010 |quote=An English lexicographer, H.W. Fowler, wrote in the preface to the first edition (1911) of ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English language'' that a dictionary is concerned with the uses of words and phrases and with giving information about the things for which they stand only so far as current use of the words depends upon knowledge of those things. The emphasis in an encyclopedia is much more on the nature of the things for which the words and phrases stand. |archive-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216021641/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/186603/encyclopaedia |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DOLei">{{cite book |last1=Hartmann |first1=R. R. K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49NZ12icE-QC&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&pg=PA49 |title=Dictionary of Lexicography |last2=James |first2=Gregory |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-415-14143-7 |page=49 |quote=In contrast with linguistic information, encyclopedia material is more concerned with the description of objective realities than the words or phrases that refer to them. In practice, however, there is no hard and fast boundary between factual and lexical knowledge. |access-date=July 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114034551/https://books.google.com/books?id=49NZ12icE-QC&q=%22encyclopedic%20dictionary%22%2Bencyclopedia&pg=PA49 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |url-status=}}</ref><ref name="OHEL22">{{cite book |last=Cowie |first=Anthony Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nhnVF9Or_wMC |title=The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume I |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-415-14143-7 |page=22 |quote=An 'encyclopedia' (encyclopaedia) usually gives more information than a dictionary; it explains not only the words but also the things and concepts referred to by the words. |access-date=August 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415131818/https://books.google.com/books?id=nhnVF9Or_wMC |archive-date=April 15, 2021 |url-status=}}</ref>

What you are reading right now, wikipedia, is in fact a encyclopedia.

Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years and have evolved considerably during that time as regards language (written in a major international or a vernacular language), size (few or many volumes), intent (presentation of a global or a limited range of knowledge), cultural perspective (authoritative, ideological, didactic, utilitarian), authorship (qualifications, style), readership (education level, background, interests, capabilities), and the technologies available for their production and distribution (hand-written manuscripts, small or large print runs, Internet). As a valued source of reliable information compiled by experts, printed versions found a prominent place in libraries, schools and other educational institutions.