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Good online *citable* encyclopedia?

arrfep

arrfep

Platinum Member
Any suggestions? I'm just looking for something I can pull some basic facts for a research paper in which I'm trying to make a case. Area/population/climate of a country, that kind of stuff. Obviously wiki wont' do because I can't use it as a source. This is my first semester back in college after a four year "hiatus" so I'm out of the research-method loop. I think the last time I used an encyclopedia online was via an Encarta CD.

As always, thanks in advance.
 
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

Edit: Removed the last line, because it wasn't very nice.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

Holy cow. Didn't think I'd strike the typical ATOT bleeding-vag nerve with such a simple question.

If I am trying to argue a point about social situations in a foreign country, and I need to reference the size of that country, where should I obtain that info? Do you want me to pace Afghanistan with a GPS unit and then do the math myself? WTF do I get the height of its highest mountain? Maybe I should book a flight and with my rangefinder and protractor and do the trig myself.

I must have been misled all these years then. Kind of funny how the MLA Handbook shows how to format an entry for information found in an encyclopedia in a works cited page. Guess those bastards got it wrong too.

Sorry I abbreviated wiki as well. Didn't mean to inflame your OCD. I was typing a quick note to a message board not, get this, writing a research paper about it. Oh, so you don't hurt your head, when I said "vag" earlier, that was short for "vagina."

Also on a "related rant," that must be the quickest I've ever seen an ATOT thread go from simple question to ad hominem attack. You should be proud of yourself. I hope that now that you've set me straight, I can use my new found inspiration in the academic world to grow up to be as well-adjusted person as you.
 
While the last bit was a little on the harsh side, what mugs said. You don't use encyclopedias in papers.

Go to the library. There are a variety of texts on a variety of subjects and almost all are acceptable to use.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

+3
 
Originally posted by: arrfep
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

Holy cow. Didn't think I'd strike the typical ATOT bleeding-vag nerve with such a simple question.

If I am trying to argue a point about social situations in a foreign country, and I need to reference the size of that country, where should I obtain that info? Do you want me to pace Afghanistan with a GPS unit and then do the math myself? WTF do I get the height of its highest mountain? Maybe I should book a flight and with my rangefinder and protractor and do the trig myself.

I must have been misled all these years then. Kind of funny how the MLA Handbook shows how to format an entry for information found in an encyclopedia in a works cited page. Guess those bastards got it wrong too.

Sorry I abbreviated wiki as well. Didn't mean to inflame your OCD. I was typing a quick note to a message board not, get this, writing a research paper about it. Oh, so you don't hurt your head, when I said "vag" earlier, that was short for "vagina."

Also on a "related rant," that must be the quickest I've ever seen an ATOT thread go from simple question to ad hominem attack. You should be proud of yourself. I hope that now that you've set me straight, I can use my new found inspiration in the academic world to grow up to be as well-adjusted person as you.
Click to expand...

He was just flexing his e-peen about how hard he worked for his phd.
 
Originally posted by: MIKEMIKE
go to wikipedia, search what you want, and then take the cited articles, and cite those after reading them...
Click to expand...

This is how I came upon the CIA link that Itchrelief provided above.
 
Originally posted by: arrfep
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

Holy cow. Didn't think I'd strike the typical ATOT bleeding-vag nerve with such a simple question.

If I am trying to argue a point about social situations in a foreign country, and I need to reference the size of that country, where should I obtain that info? Do you want me to pace Afghanistan with a GPS unit and then do the math myself? WTF do I get the height of its highest mountain? Maybe I should book a flight and with my rangefinder and protractor and do the trig myself.

I must have been misled all these years then. Kind of funny how the MLA Handbook shows how to format an entry for information found in an encyclopedia in a works cited page. Guess those bastards got it wrong too.

Sorry I abbreviated wiki as well. Didn't mean to inflame your OCD. I was typing a quick note to a message board not, get this, writing a research paper about it. Oh, so you don't hurt your head, when I said "vag" earlier, that was short for "vagina."

Also on a "related rant," that must be the quickest I've ever seen an ATOT thread go from simple question to ad hominem attack. You should be proud of yourself. I hope that now that you've set me straight, I can use my new found inspiration in the academic world to grow up to be as well-adjusted person as you.
Click to expand...

No respectable academic institution will allow you to cite an encyclopedia.

You want to know where to find information about he size of a country, and you think you need an encyclopedia to find that information. Where do you think the encyclopedia got that information? You need to get it from the same place. I'll give you a hint - it's probably published by the government of that country. It's also published by the CIA (I'd probably not cite the CIA World Factbook either; if it's in the 900 section of the library you can probably find a better source, and you should cite that source). It's also probably considered common knowledge and doesn't even need to be cited.

I'm sorry for being a dick, but these threads about citing wikipedia are making me doubt the educational institutions in this great country. Also, I'm a dick.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: arrfep
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

Holy cow. Didn't think I'd strike the typical ATOT bleeding-vag nerve with such a simple question.

If I am trying to argue a point about social situations in a foreign country, and I need to reference the size of that country, where should I obtain that info? Do you want me to pace Afghanistan with a GPS unit and then do the math myself? WTF do I get the height of its highest mountain? Maybe I should book a flight and with my rangefinder and protractor and do the trig myself.

I must have been misled all these years then. Kind of funny how the MLA Handbook shows how to format an entry for information found in an encyclopedia in a works cited page. Guess those bastards got it wrong too.

Sorry I abbreviated wiki as well. Didn't mean to inflame your OCD. I was typing a quick note to a message board not, get this, writing a research paper about it. Oh, so you don't hurt your head, when I said "vag" earlier, that was short for "vagina."

Also on a "related rant," that must be the quickest I've ever seen an ATOT thread go from simple question to ad hominem attack. You should be proud of yourself. I hope that now that you've set me straight, I can use my new found inspiration in the academic world to grow up to be as well-adjusted person as you.
Click to expand...

No respectable academic institution will allow you to cite an encyclopedia.

You want to know where to find information about he size of a country, and you think you need an encyclopedia to find that information. Where do you think the encyclopedia got that information? You need to get it from the same place. I'll give you a hint - it's probably published by the government of that country. It's also published by the CIA (I'd probably not cite the CIA World Factbook either; if it's in the 900 section of the library you can probably find a better source, and you should cite that source). It's also probably considered common knowledge and doesn't even need to be cited.

I'm sorry for being a dick, but these threads about citing wikipedia are making me doubt the educational institutions in this great country. Also, I'm a dick.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I haven't had something like this come up since probably junior high. Most of my college life has been in the liberal arts so I haven't done much research-based work. I guess I've learned my lesson though.

Guess I'll hit up the reference librarian for some help. This is just one of those things that I don't have much time to do so I was hoping to get it done online.

Anyway, thanks for that last bit. And apology accepted. Ya dick.
 
Originally posted by: arrfep
Originally posted by: mugs
Originally posted by: arrfep
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

Holy cow. Didn't think I'd strike the typical ATOT bleeding-vag nerve with such a simple question.

If I am trying to argue a point about social situations in a foreign country, and I need to reference the size of that country, where should I obtain that info? Do you want me to pace Afghanistan with a GPS unit and then do the math myself? WTF do I get the height of its highest mountain? Maybe I should book a flight and with my rangefinder and protractor and do the trig myself.

I must have been misled all these years then. Kind of funny how the MLA Handbook shows how to format an entry for information found in an encyclopedia in a works cited page. Guess those bastards got it wrong too.

Sorry I abbreviated wiki as well. Didn't mean to inflame your OCD. I was typing a quick note to a message board not, get this, writing a research paper about it. Oh, so you don't hurt your head, when I said "vag" earlier, that was short for "vagina."

Also on a "related rant," that must be the quickest I've ever seen an ATOT thread go from simple question to ad hominem attack. You should be proud of yourself. I hope that now that you've set me straight, I can use my new found inspiration in the academic world to grow up to be as well-adjusted person as you.
Click to expand...

No respectable academic institution will allow you to cite an encyclopedia.

You want to know where to find information about he size of a country, and you think you need an encyclopedia to find that information. Where do you think the encyclopedia got that information? You need to get it from the same place. I'll give you a hint - it's probably published by the government of that country. It's also published by the CIA (I'd probably not cite the CIA World Factbook either; if it's in the 900 section of the library you can probably find a better source, and you should cite that source). It's also probably considered common knowledge and doesn't even need to be cited.

I'm sorry for being a dick, but these threads about citing wikipedia are making me doubt the educational institutions in this great country. Also, I'm a dick.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I haven't had something like this come up since probably junior high. Most of my college life has been in the liberal arts so I haven't done much research-based work. I guess I've learned my lesson though.

Guess I'll hit up the reference librarian for some help. This is just one of those things that I don't have much time to do so I was hoping to get it done online.

Anyway, thanks for that last bit. And apology accepted. Ya dick.
Click to expand...
He's a greater dick than you'll ever be.
 
Originally posted by: arrfep
Originally posted by: mugs
I feel like I'm talking to a wall here... is the state of education really so bad that people don't understand that it's not acceptable to cite any encyclopedia in an academic paper?

And a related rant - stop calling it wiki! It's Wikipedia. It is a wiki, but it is not the only wiki, nor was it the first wiki. Wiki is not synonymous with Wikipedia.

In summary: OP is a moron. Good luck in community college.
Click to expand...

Holy cow. Didn't think I'd strike the typical ATOT bleeding-vag nerve with such a simple question.

If I am trying to argue a point about social situations in a foreign country, and I need to reference the size of that country, where should I obtain that info? Do you want me to pace Afghanistan with a GPS unit and then do the math myself? WTF do I get the height of its highest mountain? Maybe I should book a flight and with my rangefinder and protractor and do the trig myself.

I must have been misled all these years then. Kind of funny how the MLA Handbook shows how to format an entry for information found in an encyclopedia in a works cited page. Guess those bastards got it wrong too.

Sorry I abbreviated wiki as well. Didn't mean to inflame your OCD. I was typing a quick note to a message board not, get this, writing a research paper about it. Oh, so you don't hurt your head, when I said "vag" earlier, that was short for "vagina."

Also on a "related rant," that must be the quickest I've ever seen an ATOT thread go from simple question to ad hominem attack. You should be proud of yourself. I hope that now that you've set me straight, I can use my new found inspiration in the academic world to grow up to be as well-adjusted person as you.
Click to expand...

Haha, you just had a sargasm.
 
Originally posted by: mugs
No respectable academic institution will allow you to cite an encyclopedia.

You want to know where to find information about he size of a country, and you think you need an encyclopedia to find that information. Where do you think the encyclopedia got that information? You need to get it from the same place. I'll give you a hint - it's probably published by the government of that country. It's also published by the CIA (I'd probably not cite the CIA World Factbook either; if it's in the 900 section of the library you can probably find a better source, and you should cite that source). It's also probably considered common knowledge and doesn't even need to be cited.

I'm sorry for being a dick, but these threads about citing wikipedia are making me doubt the educational institutions in this great country. Also, I'm a dick.
Click to expand...

One of the great hurdles of the information era isn't just making information accessible, but making it easy to find.

Hate on it all you want, but Wikipedia is still the premier source of fast, usually-accurate facts on the web. Piles of people use it, from scientists to doctors to professors. There may be better sources, but there aren't faster sources, and if you already have the training and just need something to jog your memory...Wikipedia is it.

Not to say that this should be the first place to start, of course, but I bet that most undergrads these days will use Wikipedia as a jumping-off point to get to the real data.

OP, just cite Wikipedia and then sub-cite the Nature paper that found it more accurate than Britannica.😛
 
Originally posted by: jagec
Originally posted by: mugs
No respectable academic institution will allow you to cite an encyclopedia.

You want to know where to find information about he size of a country, and you think you need an encyclopedia to find that information. Where do you think the encyclopedia got that information? You need to get it from the same place. I'll give you a hint - it's probably published by the government of that country. It's also published by the CIA (I'd probably not cite the CIA World Factbook either; if it's in the 900 section of the library you can probably find a better source, and you should cite that source). It's also probably considered common knowledge and doesn't even need to be cited.

I'm sorry for being a dick, but these threads about citing wikipedia are making me doubt the educational institutions in this great country. Also, I'm a dick.
Click to expand...

One of the great hurdles of the information era isn't just making information accessible, but making it easy to find.

Hate on it all you want, but Wikipedia is still the premier source of fast, usually-accurate facts on the web. Piles of people use it, from scientists to doctors to professors. There may be better sources, but there aren't faster sources, and if you already have the training and just need something to jog your memory...Wikipedia is it.

Not to say that this should be the first place to start, of course, but I bet that most undergrads these days will use Wikipedia as a jumping-off point to get to the real data.

OP, just cite Wikipedia and then sub-cite the Nature paper that found it more accurate than Britannica.😛
Click to expand...

I love Wikipedia. I use it to look things up all the time. I read it for pleasure, and I usually end up opening so many tabs that I can't read them all. But you can't use it or Britannica as a source in an academic paper at an institution with decent academic standards. Wikipedia wasn't a worthwhile place for information when I was in college, but if it was I probably would have used it to get an overview of the important things I should cover, and to find sources I could cite.
 
"Guess I'll hit up the reference librarian for some help."

There may be some hope for you yet. Just for clarification, aside from the miles you have to slog uphill both ways to get to the library, for any even semi involved question, a librarian can point you in the right direction at least twice as fast as an online search. Contrary to popular belief, MOST knowledge is not online or even referenced there.
 
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