Ivy Tech Community College Virtual Library
East Central Indiana Region: Use the Library tab in Campus Connect
Muncie: 765-289-2291 x1450, 1451
Anderson: 765-643-7133 x2313
Marion: 765-651-3100 x3422
Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
To locate the Encyclopaedia Britannica, start in the Search & Find: Reference section of the Virtual Library. Britannica is accessible
from any Internet-connected computer either on or off campus from the Library tab in Campus Connect. Encyclopædia Britannica is a
comprehensive reference product, which includes the complete encyclopedia, as well as Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and
Thesaurus, Britannica Student Encyclopedia and the Britannica Book of the Year. You can also use Encyclopædia Britannica Online to
search an Internet directory that includes more than 300,000 links to Web sites selected, rated, and reviewed by Britannica editors.
Through this service, you can find more than 118,000 articles, updated and revised by Encyclopædia Britannica editors and
contributors; over 14,000 illustrations, including photographs, drawings, maps, and flags; and more than 215,000 entries--including
definitions, pronunciation guides, and word histories--from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus.
To find out all Britannica has
to offer, along with Search
tips, click Help, and/or take
the Guided Tour.
To perform a search, just type your query in the Search Box,
select the content source you want to search against using the
radio button options, and click the "Go" button.
Note Dictionary
and Thesaurus searches
available.
Note ways to Browse for information.
Note Research Tools.
Case Sensitivity -- Type your
query in uppercase or
lowercase--it doesn't matter.
EXAMPLE: If your query is
AIDS, you can type aids and
get the same search results.
Special Characters -- Special
characters have no impact on
your search, with the exception
of the asterisk, *. The *
indicates a wildcard search.
Natural Language Queries -Typing your query in natural
language is a great way to get
specific information. Britannica
strips out common words for
you and returns results that
contain the most occurrences
of the keywords in your query.
EXAMPLE: If you type what is
the third longest river in the
world? , results that contain the
most occurrences of the words
"third," "longest," "river," and
"world" will be returned. These
results are ranked according to
the number of times the
keywords appear.
Abbreviations -- Using
abbreviations in your query can
make a dramatic difference in
your search results. Many
abbreviations are used by
Britannica's content sources. If
you want to find a specific
abbreviation to use in your
query, search the extensive
abbreviation list.
British Spellings -- Because Encyclopædia Britannica is of British origin, many of the articles use British spellings. If your query is an American spelling of a
word that has a British equivalent, you may receive a greater number of results by using the British spelling. To determine if an alternative spelling exists for
your query, consult the list of British equivalents.
Results screen:
When results are displayed, each is only a summary of the information available.
Click the blue underlined links to open the document or media.
Encyclopedia results
are displayed first;
note the other kinds
of content available:
Don’t miss the
Journals and
magazines links.
While encyclopedias
are great at providing
background
information, they can
also point you to
other references
(books, etc.) on your
subject, and in many
cases, journal and
magazine articles.
Punctuation
There are only three types of
punctuation marks that, when
included in your query, will affect
search results:
•
•
•
Quotation Marks: Use
quotation marks around
words or phrases if you want
them to appear word for word
in your search results.
EXAMPLE: If you are
interested in the American
Civil War and you want to
eliminate results that focus
on other civil wars, type
"American Civil War" in the
Search Box.
Parentheses: Use
parentheses in Boolean
operator formulas to separate
and group words or phrases.
Hyphens: Only use hyphens
in hyphenated words and
names.
Excellent help
available:
Wildcards
Encyclopædia Britannica Online supports wildcard searching. Use the wildcard character * before or after your query when you want to see search
results that contain closely related words. EXAMPLE: If you are interested in learning more about the different types of law, you could type *law and
retrieve results that contain the word law preceded by any word or combination of words.
Boolean Operators
Boolean operators are little words that can make a big difference in the meaning of your query. You can create a very simple or very complex 'query
formula' using Boolean operators. Britannica recognizes three Boolean operators:
• AND: Use the AND operator to specify that you want all of the words in your multiple word query to appear in your search results.
• OR: Use the OR operator to receive search results that contain any one or all of the words in your multiple word query.
• NOT: Use the NOT operator to exclude words from your search results.
You can use these three Boolean operators in any combination by breaking your query into a formula using parentheses. EXAMPLE: Type cherokee
and (language or alphabet) not sequoyah to retrieve results that contain information about the Cherokee language or alphabet, but not Sequoyah.
(SRG 6/08)