I feel as if encyclopedias and Wikipedia both have pros and cons to them. For an encyclopedia, a pro is that there are a numerous amount of them and they are categorized into specific topics that make it easy to find the information you need. Also, another pro is that you know where to find the sources of the information that is in the encyclopedia, so that you can know that the information is valid. A con that I learned about encyclopedias in class is that they do not contain enough information, they may not give you the whole story of the topic you need or may skip information altogether, such as the encyclopedia that was supposed to contain all the countries in Central and South America but did not mention the country of Argentina, which I found pretty shocking. As for Wikipedia, I would say that the biggest pro is how easy and accessible it is to find the information you need because each page is categorized, which makes it easy to read, especially if you only need to read a specific part of the page, you can just click on the tap and the website will take you to that spot. Although, it is very easy to use, a con is that, it is not a very valid source because anyone can edit a Wikipedia page, so it is recommended that you look at another source to make sure the information from Wikipedia is credible.
I found two print encyclopedias when I searched for them. I first searched religion encyclopedias and I found one that was called Encyclopedia of World Religions but I am unable to view the table of contents online to see if it contains information about Polygamy in it. I also searched Polygamy encyclopedia and the catalog came up with one item called Encyclopedia of constitutional amendments, proposed amendments, and amending issues which I could view the table of contents and it did contain Polygamy.
I could not really find and E-encyclopedia on my topic, I searched the Britannica Encyclopedia database but the information I received was basically just the definition of polygamy.
I believe that the second print encyclopedia and the Wikipedia page are both acceptable for my research project and contain some of the same information, both having history on the topic but the Wikipedia page specifically had information on polygamy in the Mormon religion but I would have to make sure the information can be credible.
Hi Kaitlin,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post on encyclopedias and Wikipedia.
When you found the Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, and noted that polygamy existed in the Table of Contents, did you go to the Reference section to look for the encyclopedia and read the entry on polygamy?
How does that entry on polygamy compare with the Wikipedia entry on polygamy?
I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum
Oops nope I have not gone and looked at it yet but I am definitely going to this week and then I will tell you how they compare!
DeleteHi Kaitlin,
ReplyDeleteHow did the encyclopedia entry on polygamy compare with the Wikipedia entry? I am in suspense!
Professor Wexelbaum
When I read the title of the encyclopedia and that it had the law regulations of polygamy, I thought it would be more helpful but I found the text from this particular encyclopedia to kind of be over my head, meaning that I would describe the language as hard to read because it was the language of law. It was good for that sense but I do not know if I am going to focus that in depth of the laws of polygamy compared to what it is and what it is all about. I liked the Wikipedia article because it had a lot of information on a lot of topics with the big topic of Mormonism and polygamy, the language was also easy to understand and it did have legal issues like in the encyclopedia.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaitlin,
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear that the language of the encyclopedia was very subject-specific. I would think that doing a little background research on any laws that might affect polygamy in the US may be helpful, though. I am thinking that, when we do research on government documents, you might find some original texts, as the laws themselves are usually written in clearer language. Newspapers and blogs might contain articles about particular laws as well, or link to them. We will see!
Professor Wexelbaum