Skill Goal: Using online encyclopedias
Subject: Medieval popes and emperors

Many students like encyclopedias as handy reference tools, so for this exercise you are going to evaluate what you find in online encyclopedias about the people you have been studying, and compare that information with what you yourself see after you have read something written by the same people.

Let's stick with three figures [you only need do the project on one of them].

• Pope Gregory VII
• Pope Innocent III
• Frederick Barbarossa
• Frederick II

You can find information about them at:

• The Encyclopedia Britannica [This should be accessible from computers at your schools. If you are at home, you can get a "trial subscription" for a week]
• Encarta [Concise version is free. Full version can be had for free for seven days]
• The Columbia Encyclopedia
• Hutchinson's Encyclopedia [This one is only available on AOL. Use keyword "encyclopedias," then choose "More Encyclopedias"]
• The Catholic Encyclopedia
• Wikipedia [Note the special problems associated with using this website]

Note:if you sign up for a "free trial" to access these online publications, you are under no obligation to give your full name, full correct address, or even your main e-mail address. If you do, the companies will add you to their database. You have a right to protect your privacy.

Your job is to look up one of the figures in at least two of the encyclopedias.

Explain which encyclopedia is best for your subject, and why. Explain the strengths and weaknesses of each encyclopedia.

What do you gain by looking at the original texts by the author rather than just looking at an encyclopedia?