Encyclopedias and Reference Works
Encyclopedias and other reference works provide a good starting point for research. After a student acquires basic information about her subject from reference works, she can expand and refine her knowledge by consulting journal articles and books written specifically on the subject.

The encyclopedia is usually the first reference work a student uses when doing research. The encyclopedia will provide an overview of the topic and help the student gain a better understanding of her subject. It will also help the student identify key terms and concepts that can be used when looking for information in other sources.

Encyclopedias such as Britannica and World Book are considered general encyclopedias. They cover a wide range of topics from A-Z. In contrast, a subject encyclopedia covers one narrow range of topics in depth. Examples include the Encyclopedia of Family Life and the Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health. If you are having trouble locating your topic in a general encyclopedia, try a subject encyclopedia. In the reference section on the main floor, the library has both general and subject encyclopedias in print format.

In addition, the library also has several subscriptions to online encyclopedias. These include the general encyclopedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as subject encyclopedias such as Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health, and Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. These two subject encyclopedias are part of a set of reference works called the Gale Virtual Reference Library, which is the focus of this chapter.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources published by Gale. To reach this screen, click on "Databases" on the library home page, and then click on "Gale."

Here you see the Gale Database Menu previously discussed in the chapter on Gale. Before, we chose to search all databases at once. This time we will search only the Virtual Reference Library. Click on the database name highlighted and underlined in blue.

Basic Search Screen

Above you see the Basic search screen. Remember in the chapter on Gale, when we first came to the Subject search screen? In this database, subject searching is not an option. Look in the yellow search box. Here we have the option of searching words in Document title, Keyword or Entire document. The Title search is the narrowest; the Document search is the broadest. The Keyword search is the default. Let's go ahead and search for parkinson disease as a keyword.

Results Screen

Above you see a list of 132 articles from reference books, shown 20 per screen. Notice at the top of the results list that there is only one folder tab, labeled Reference. In most Gale databases there are several folder tabs representing various types of sources, such as magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference books. The Virtual Reference Library consists only of reference books published by Gale. On this screen we see articles from Gale Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine, and Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health.

For each of the articles listed we see brief information about the source. This information includes the author and title of the article as well as the publication information for the reference book that it came from. We have all the information we need to make a citation to the article; however, we do not see the full text of the article yet.

To view the full text of the the article, click on the article title, which is shown in blue font. Let's look at the first one, titled "Parkinson Disease."

Full Article Screen

Here is the full text of the article titled "Parkinson Disease." At the top of the screen, you see the publication information. In the middle of the screen you see the article. In the top right corner you see the Tools box. Here you can view in PDF to print. We covered printing earlier in the chapter on Gale.

Citation Tools
In the Tools box, you also find "Citation Tools." This tool gives you the option of generating a citation in MLA, APA, or plain text format. Please do not use this! While this information can be useful, it is not formatted exactly to the MLA style specifications that we use at Virginia Western. Instead, use the sample citation provided at the end of this chapter for your MLA model.

For more information about citing online databases in MLA format, consult page 394 of A Writer's Reference. For information about citing reference works, consult page 384 of A Writer's Reference. Also visit the "Writing" link available on the Brown Library web page.

Publication Search Screen

Going back to the basic search screen, we will now do a Publications search. We can view all publications at once. Or, we can view publications in specific fields such as medicine or science. To view all publications, click on "Show All."

Now we see a partial list of the encyclopedias and reference books included in the Virtual Reference Library database. This list is arranged in subject categories and the screen above shows the titles available for law, literature and medicine. Under medicine we see ten encyclopedias; including two for alternative medicine, nursing and allied health, two for cancer, two for genetic disorders, and two for medicine. Let's look at the 2007 edition of the encyclopedia for nursing and allied health.

Publication Information Screen

We are now viewing information about the publication titled, Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health. We see a cover image for the book, publication information, and a brief book description. In addition, we can also look at the table of contents, the index, and a list of illustrations.

MLA Citation
Here is a sample MLA citation for an encyclopedia article found in the Virtual Reference Library.

Fallon, L. Fleming Jr. "Parkinson's Disease." Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health. Ed. Kristine Krapp. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Virginia Western Community Coll., Brown Lib., Roanoke. 25 May 2007 <http://find.galegroup.com>.