Collins Memorial Library: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY: SUBJECT GUIDE: Getting Started

Print Reference Sources

Reader's Guide to the History of Science by Arne Hessenbruch (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for availability and location information! (Located in the circulating, print collection.)
Publication Date: 2000
The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology.
Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the 19th Century by Michael Windelspecht
Call Number: Print Reference Q125 .W79173 2003 (first floor of Collins Library)
Publication Date: 2003
The 19th century is known as the modern era of science. Many of the ideas, theories, and inventions developed during this time are used everyday in today's society. Windelspecht investigates the century's tremendous discoveries, inventions, and inquiries in more than 60 alphabetical entries.
Science, Technology, and Society: An Encyclopedia by Sal P. Restivo (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for location and availability information!
ISBN: 9780195141931
Publication Date: 2005
Emphasizing an interdisciplinary and international coverage of the functions and effects of science and technology in society and culture, this work contains over 130 A to Z signed articles written by major scholars and experts from academic and scientific institutions and institutes worldwide. Each article is accompanied by a selected bibliography.
Science and Its Times by Neil Schlager (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for location and availability information!
Publication Date: 2000
The seven volumes are chronologically ordered from 2000 B.C. to the present, addressing a wide variety of scientific developments with explanations of underlying factors and their effects on politics, economics, culture and daily life. The entries -- more than 20 topical essays, 25 full biographies and 85 sketches of notable people in each volume -- move forward through history, describing notable scientific discoveries and achievements along with their social and historical impact.

Online Subject Encyclopedia Collections

The following links will take you to large digital collections of subject encyclopedias. The Gale Virtual Reference Library is an especially good place to start for STS courses.

Gale eBooks
Provides full text online access to Gale electronic books, including encyclopedias and other reference resources.
Oxford Reference
Contains the complete texts of many Oxford companions, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference titles in a fully indexed, cross-searchable database. Included in addition to articles are images, maps, timelines, bibliographies, photographs and much more.
SAGE Knowledge
Collection of the electronic versions of Sage's print encyclopedias, which focus mostly on the social sciences.

Online Reference Titles

Encyclopedia of Science Technology and Ethics by Carl Mitcham
Call Number: Click title for online access!
ISBN: 0028659910
Publication Date: 2005
This encyclopedia considers both the professional ethics of science and technology, and the social, ethical, and political issues raised by science and technology.
The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science by John L. Heilbron (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access!
ISBN: 9780195112290
Publication Date: 2003
This work presents a history of the field to those with an interest in the technology, ideas, discoveries, and learned institutions that have shaped our world over the past five centuries. Focusing on the period from the Renaissance to the early twenty-first century, the articles cover all disciplines, historical periods, concepts, and methodologies and philosophies.
Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures by H. Selin (Editor); Helaine Selin (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access!
ISBN: 9781402044250
Publication Date: 2008
Contains entries dealing with the history of the scientific, technological and medical accomplishments of cultures outside of the United States and Europe. Includes intercultural articles on broad topics such as mathematics and astronomy as well as philosophical articles on concepts and ideas related to the study of non-Western science, such as rationality, objectivity, and method.

What's a tertiary source?

Tertiary sources are excellent starting points! They consist of information synthesized from primary and secondary sources. Examples include:

Almanacs
Chronologies
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Directories
Fact books
Guidebooks
Indexes, abstracts, bibliographies used to locate primary and secondary sources
Manuals
Textbooks

These resources give you succinct overviews of your topic, explain scholarly arguments, point out interesting questions, and refer you to especially key sources.