textbooks | encyclopedias | handbooks | bibliographies | annual reviews

Description: After a period of time and considerable discussion and review, the results from the original research may become accepted knowledge in the discipline. Summary literature attempts to review and summarize the knowledge base of the discipline, identify major milestones and research trends, provide historical overviews, and identify paths for further inquiry.

Types of summary literature

Textbooks
Textbooks introduce the novice to new disciplines and broad areas of significant inquiry within them. They can provide an overview of the field, identifying major researchers, critical theories and concepts, historical trends and activities, and issues that were controversial at the time of publication.

Encyclopedias
General encyclopedias attempt to briefly summarize the body of human knowledge and will place REECAS-related topics within this broad perspective. Subject encyclopedias do the same for the knowledge base of a single discipline or topic.

Handbooks
Handbooks are guides to research and writing in a field. Typically, a handbook will include essays on history, theory, and methods with each chapter being followed by a useful, often extensive bibliography for further inquiry. Handbooks will typically focus on individual disciplines such as economics, political science, history, etc.

Bibliographies
Bibliographies, apart from the short reference lists attached to a specific research report, are also book-length lists, typically conveniently organized by format, publication date, or other useful criterion, that attempt to identify all publication in the field over a specific period of time. Most book-length bibliographies will focus on a relatively small area of inquiry and will attempt to be thorough in identifying the relevant works. Some are annotated bibliographies with a brief analysis of the unique contribution each work makes to the subject in question.

Annual reviews
Some disciplines publish annual reviews of the most important research in the field in a given year. The most significant advances in a several areas of inquiry are highlighted, summarized, and evaluated.

An excellent source of background or contextual material on the field generally or on a specific research focus. Concentrate on the "Big Picture" : What is the scope and structure of the disciplinary knowledge base? What are its foundational concepts and theories? What are its major research themes? What have been the research interests over any period of years? Typically accompanied by bibliographies pointing to further reading. Bibliographies can make much research unnecessary by identifying all the literature needed for many popular topics. Good source for critical vocabularies for specific concepts and ideas that will be useful in performing further searches in disciplinary databases.

Provide a starting point for exploring in greater detail, usually in books and peer-reviewed literature; but not typically appropriate for citation in the bibliography of a research paper.

Selected resources for finding summary literature

Library Reference department
The Suzzallo Library reference department will have encyclopedias such as ..... Try a library catalog search under the subject heading .... for encyclopedias. Reference librarians are available to help you find what you need.
Search the UW Libraries Catalog >>

OCLC WorldCat
Consists of catalog records and holdings information for material owned by libraries around the world.
Search OCLC WorldCat >>

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