Going straight to the source.

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I recently asked a librarian friend of mine (at a teachers college) what encyclopedias should be used for. Her first reaction was to cringe a bit and ask why I might want to ask such a difficult question. When, however, she realized that I was actually interested in an answer she thought for a couple of moments and said something along the lines of: to get an overview of a topic, to find out what's worth checking out on the subject, as an introduction.

I liked those answers. They're the sort of answers I would have given myself. Sadly, however, most people who use an encyclopedia don't know, or understand, that those are the basic uses of such a tool.

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Go to: Too Common Knowledge.