Research Guides
LING/ANTH 433, LING 533: Sociolinguistics II: Reference Sources
Library resources and research in sociolinguistics for LING/ANTH 433 & LING 533
Reference Sources: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias summarize a number of sources and are good for brief overviews of a topic, without typically offering much depth. They may be general in scope, or be devoted to a particular subject or discipline. Encyclopedias frequently include useful general information, and may or may not include references to other materials for further reading. While encyclopedias have historically been put together by academic publishers, Wikipedia is crowd-sourced.
Traditional encyclopedias are considered to be more authoritative than Wikipedia due to the accountability between contributors and the publisher (as well as their colleagues in the discipline), while Wikipedia can be edited by anyone and may contain dubious edits. Wikipedia may still be useful, however, for summarizing a large amount of information, and for their references to other works for more information.
Sociolinguistics Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
A Dictionary of Sociolinguistics (online) by 
This link opens in a new window
Publication Date: 2004Explains sociolinguistic theories, concepts, and terminology with minimal jargon. Accommodates a broad interpretation of sociolinguistics, including macro- and micro-sociolinguistics and a range of approaches within variationist, interactional, critical, and applied traditions.
The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction (online) by - This link opens in a new window
Publication Date: 2015Definitive international reference work on a topic of major and increasing importance providing state-of-the-art research for scholars in an interactive and accessible format.
Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (online) by - This link opens in a new window
Publication Date: 2006 (2nd ed.)The most authoritative, up-to-date, comprehensive, and international reference source in the field of linguistics.
Oxford Bibliographies
Oxford Bibliographies are a reference tool created to meet the needs of today’s students and scholars, providing expert commentary to help students and scholars find, negotiate, and assess the large amount of information readily available to them in sociolinguistics and other linguistics disciplines. Find these and more sociolinguistic and linguistic subjects covered at the Oxford Bibliographies in Linguistics page.