Articles & Databases: Encyclopedias
As of February 2021 this page is no longer being updated. Please update your links to redirect to our A-Z Databases page for Encyclopedias.
Databases
Profiles milestones and movements in literature, music, religion, and the arts from specific periods. Includes architecture and design, dance, fashion, literature, music, philosophy, religion, theater, and visual arts.
Access Science 
An online encyclopedia of science and technology.
A digital library of art images and descriptive information for students and instructors. Register for a personal account to access additional features or to login directly from the ARTstor home page.
Covers the 14 systems of the human body and their role and functions both from an individual organ perspective and each system as a whole, as well as what occurs when systems are not functioning properly due to injury, disease, or other causes. Entries cover the development of each body system from birth to full adult growth, as well as adjustments by the body during the senior years.
Britannica Online Academic Edition
An online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica.
Provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the regions of the American continents in which two of the world's first civilizations developed: Mesoamerica and the Andes Mountains region.
A complete reference work covering five general areas: finance and banking; accounting; marketing; management; and information systems. Drawing on practical professional expertise as well as that of noted scholars, the contributors include executives, government administrators and scholars from leading business programs from around the United States.
Surveys clothing and body adornment, including the origins of clothing, the development of fabrics and technologies, and the social meanings of dress. Presents information on representative costumes from a wide variety of historical eras.
This work covers the social, medical and political issues related to drugs and alcohol, as well as types of addiction. Changes since the last edition include the decrease of crack cocaine use and resurgence of heroin use; changes in laws dealing with drug use at the state and national levels; and new discoveries leading to a better understanding of how drugs work and what makes them addictive.
A survey of food and its place in human culture and society. Features multidisciplinary coverage of such topics as comfort food, ethnicity and food, medieval banquets, and nutrient composition, among many others. Includes photographs, illustrations, sidebars, recipes, menus, and timelines.
This encyclopedia provides students, researchers, and the general public with an accessible, comprehensive, and well-balanced evidence-based examination of theory, research and debates related to media violence.
Covers specific minority and ethnic groups in the U.S., with an emphasis on culture (religions, holidays, customs, language) in addition to information on historical background and settlement patterns. The Encyclopedia also covers ethnoreligious groups such as Jews, Chaldeans and Amish.
This resource covers the entire spectrum of psychology, including: notable people, theories and terms; landmark case studies and experiments; applications of psychology in advertising, medicine and sports; and career information.
This book serves as a primer to the study of gender, including women's, queer, and men's studies. By employing literature, film, art, history, and other disciplines, it identifies areas of critical thought and practice in gender and sexuality studies; provides an overview of central themes, current topics, and seminal debates; and offers resources for further research.
Covers evolution in detail and explores it from a scientific viewpoint. Includes comprehensive coverage of recent ideas and discoveries in the field of evolution.
This encyclopedia explores all aspects of extinctions and extinct life, featuring approximately 80 articles outlining major extinctions and related scientific areas. Entries are written by nationally renowned subject experts specializing in zoology, paleontology, and environmental science. Written for students and general researchers.
Includes articles specific to countries and to religious traditions, examining the history of family life within these cultures and discussing how families have been affected by political and social change.
Contains 300 entries that explore literary works that deal with propaganda. The set includes a wide variety of genres and has an international scope. It explores the works of authors shaped by a variety of political, social, and economic movements, and places each work in its historical context. Each entry includes an overview of the work, historical context, primary themes and style, and critical discussion.
Spanning from the earliest published examples dating to 16th C. Europe, through the Declaration of Independence, to the 2006 Euston Manifesto, this work describes the authors and their causes, as well as the social, political, economic philosophies that are behind them. The context of history will play an important role in describing the circumstances of their writing and how they were received and acted upon at the time of writing and after.
This book serves as a primer to the study of philosophy, discussing some of the challenges from various forms of skepticism that philosophers have faced when, in the footsteps of Socrates, they have tried to gain knowledge. The primer also provides a sample of the diverse philosophical traditions that have developed through the centuries in different parts of the world.
Chronicles and interpretations of the phenomenal waves of immigration to the United States from the earliest times through the period from 1820 to 1930, when the United States was the destination of some 60% of the world's immigrants -- up to the present day, when restrictive policies have temporarily stanched the flow of immigrants.
This series covers 20th-century events and social history beginning in 1900 and ending in 1999. An encyclopedia of 20th-century events and social history, decade by decade. Each decade is covered in one volume. Topics for each decade include: Headline Makers, Topics in the News, Arts and Entertainment, Business and the Economy, Education, Government, Politics, and Law, Lifestyles and Social Trends, Medicine and Health, Science and Technology, and Sports.
An encyclopedic guide to concepts, theories, discoveries and pioneers in the fields of microbiology and immunology, for students and other researchers. Addresses current ethical, legal and social issues with special emphasis given to biological warfare and terrorism.
Access Key
= Open Access databases do not require Library card login, and feature freely available
content
= Databases with content for use by any Peninsula Library System member; visit your
local county/city library in San Mateo County to obtain a free card
- = Databases with content only for use by CSM students, faculty, and staff; use OneLogin
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