Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Available to authorized users on and off campus
Available to authorized users on campus only
Available free on the Web
is coordinated by PASCAL, in cooperation with its members, the South Carolina State Library, and other partners. Collegiate DISCUS is funded by the South Carolina General Assembly through an appropriation to the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.
General sources that cover Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Core sources for Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
Britannica Online (Encyclopedia) | |
This Internet version of the Encyclopedia Britannica includes the complete encyclopedia as well as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and the Britannica Book of the Year. EB Online also makes an Internet directory available that includes more than 130,000 links to Web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.
Columbia Encyclopedia (6th edition) | |
This resource contains almost 51,000 entries and 80,000 plus hypertext cross-references.
Encyclopedia of Animals (EBSCO)| | |
Offers in-depth information on a variety of topics relating to animals. The database consists of indexing, abstracts, and full text records describing the nature and habitat of familiar animals. Within some of the full text, image links are available for the Windows client. Images are accessed by double-clicking any image graphic.
Encyclopedia Americana | | |
For grades 8 and up, this online encyclopedia provides in-depth information, current events and a news archive for student researchers. It includes over 45,000 encyclopedia articles on all subjects, over 100,000 related full text periodical articles, links to over 150,000 selected Web sites, a weekly news feature, teacher resources, links to US and international news sites, as well as an interactive atlas, dictionary, and 4,500 black and white and color images.
Funk & Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia| | |
Database indexes over 25,000 records, covering an array of topics. Full text for each record may be easily accessed by double clicking on the topic from the display. The database contains various images, offers brief biographies as well as information in a variety of subject areas. This database is updated annually.
Gale Virtual Reference Library | | | 1980- |
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia | | |
For grades 5 and up, this online encyclopedia offers reference information and news on all subjects with learning tools and multimedia as well as over 40,000 encyclopedia articles with associated pictures, flags, maps and media, including video, sound, animations, panoramas and cutaways. It links to thousands of related periodical articles and Web sites, weekly news articles with news quiz and related Web links, and the monthly Brain Jam e-zine with teacher resources and student activities.
Merriam - Webster Dictionary & Thesaurus | |
This dictionary database offers pronunciation, word function, and simple etymology information while the thesaurus provides word function and hot-linked synonyms.
New Book of Knowledge Encyclopedia | | |
For grades 3 and up, this online encyclopedia offers reference information on all subjects with current events and educational features. It includes over 9,000 encyclopedia articles on all subjects, with pictures and maps; related articles from children's magazines; related Web sites appropriate for children; weekly news articles and pictures with lesson plans; and links to student activities, educational games and teacher resources.
Oxford English Dictionary Online | |
Updated quarterly, OED Online contains the complete text of the 20-volume Second Edition and the 3-volume Additions Series. Many Additions entries are additions to entries that previously were published in the Second Edition; they are appended to the end of the appropriate Second Edition entry. Complete entries published for the first time in the Additions volumes are presented as free-standing entries along with entries from the Second Edition.
Oxford Reference Online | |
Brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource. The Premium Collection offers over 170 fully-indexed, cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, including detailed information across a broad subject range from titles in the world-renowned Oxford Companions Series.
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus | |
This website makes the 1995, 3rd edition of Roget's II available; it contains succinct definitions as well as 35,000 synonyms, and over 250,000 cross-references.