1 - Find Topic Overviews - Education - Guides & Tutorials at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Find Topic Overviews

In this section, I will show you 2 types of resources for locating a comprehensive overview on your topic. Online reference collections allow you to cross-search hundreds of digitized reference books to find an encyclopedia entry on your topic. Specialized encyclopedias are also searchable as e-books.

Credo Reference

Other reference tools

Try searching for an overview in one of these online reference collections.

Oxford Reference
Oxford Reference is a searchable collection of reference books published by Oxford University Press. Find full-text entries on topics from every discipline.
Gale eBooks
Gale eBooks, formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), includes encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research.
Encyclopedia Britannica
The complete Encyclopaedia Britannica, searchable online. It contains more than 72,000 articles, 75,000 definitions and more.

...more online collections of encyclopedias and dictionaries

Encyclopedias

Selected Encyclopedias: Education

International Encyclopedia of Education by Peterson, Baker, McGaw & Tierney, Editors (2010)
Explores the multidisciplinary and international field of education, drawing on a wide range of social sciences and humanities disciplines.
Encyclopedia of Diversity in Education by James A. Banks, Editor (2012)
Presents research and statistics, case studies and best practices, policies and programs at pre- and post-secondary levels, mainly in the United States but also in nations around the world.
The Sage Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning by Kylie A. Peppler (2017)
Documents what the best research has revealed about out-of-school learning: what facilitates or hampers it; where it takes place most effectively; how we can encourage it to develop talents and strengthen communities; and why it matters.

Selected Encyclopedias: Language Education

Encyclopedia of Bilingual Education by Josué M. González, Editor (2008)
Covers topics in bilingual education as it relates to schools, research centers, legislative bodies, advocacy organizations, and families. Access via Sage Publications.
Encyclopedia of Language and Education by Hornberger and King, Editor (2007)
Key reference to support research in language and education. Access via Springer Nature Link E-Books.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning by Byram and Brumfit, Editors (2001)
This authoritative A-Z resource hundreds of entries plus overview chapters on contemporary and historical language teaching. Access via EBSCOhost ebook collection.
Encyclopedia of Language and Education by Ruth Wodak and David Corson, Editors (1998) An 8-volume set covering language policy and political issues in education (v. 1), literacy (v. 2), oral discourse and education (v. 3), second language education (v. 4), bilingual education (v. 5), knowledge about language (v. 6), language testing and assessment (v. 7) and research methods in language and education (v.8). Available for borrowing. [See more books like this]
Routledge Encyclopedia of Second Language Acquistion by Peter Robinson, Editor (2012) "[A] user-friendly, authoritative survey of terms and constructs that are important to understanding research in second language acquisition (SLA) and its applications." [More like this]

Selected Encyclopedias: Linguistics

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences by Patrick Colm Hogan (2010)
"Includes basic entries for those unfamiliar with a given topic and more specific entries for those seeking more specialized knowledge." Access via Credo Reference.
The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia by Kirsten Malmkjaer (2009)
"A single-volume encyclopedia covering all major and subsidiary areas of linguistics and applied linguistics." Access via Ebrary.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language by David Crystal (2010) "...a celebration of language in all its oddity, beauty, fun, astonishing complexity and limitless variety" London Review of Books. The Library has several editions of this book.
The Routledge Pragmatics Encyclopedia by Louise Cummings, Editor (2010) "Covers concepts and theories that have traditionally been associated with pragmatics, but also recent areas of development, influential scholars, interdisciplinary exchanges between pragmatics and other areas of enquiry and all major research trends." [See more books like this]