Research Guides: Research Tools: Encyclopedias & Almanacs

Facts & Figures Topics

Use these tools to find overviews of subjects and background information, as well as facts, figures, biographies, and references for further reading.

[Compiled by Wil Frost, Librarian; updated July 2010]

UH Manoa Library Electronic Resources - Encyclopedias
More than 150 encyclopedias retrieved from a search of the Library's Electronic Resources Gateway. (UH Manoa Library)

Encyclopedia Britannica Online
UHM login required. Search the complete Encyclopedia Britannica with the addition of audio and video components and links to WWW sites with related information. Includes Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. This database is continuously revised and updated weekly. (Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.)

Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
UHM login required. Provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas. (EBSCO Industries, Inc.)
infoplease
Access to more than 57,000 articles from the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, plus an almanac with statistics and up-to-date facts and figures, an atlas of 193 countries and the 50 U.S. states, and an unabridged dictionary. (Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease)

MAS Complete
UHM login required. Designed specifically for high school libraries, provides full text from over 515 popular general interest and current events publications covering general reference, health, science, and other areas. This database also includes more than 3,000 charts, tables and graphs; book reviews; coverage of more than 250 reference books, and an image collection of 91,000 photos, maps & flags. (EBSCO Industries, Inc.)
In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for all publications in the collection. Every full text article is assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles). This database also includes more than 3,000 charts, tables and graphs; 5,000 full text Magill Book Reviews; nearly 550 health and science-related full text pamphlets; coverage of more than 250 reference books (including the Columbia Encyclopedia, the CIA World Fact Book and World Almanac & Book of Facts) and an image collection of 91,000 photos, maps & flags. Full text backfiles date as far back as January of 1985, while indexing and abstract backfiles date as far back as January of 1984.

Wikipedia
The English language version of the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit, with more than three million articles. (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)
World Encyclopedia
Licensed for UH Manoa use only. This Oxford Reference Online encyclopedia features concise entries providing essential information on a range of subjects, including world affairs, science and technology, the arts, modern and ancient history, religion, sports, and popular culture. (Oxford University Press)
50states.com
Provides general facts and links to information for all 50 states. (Marchex, Inc.)