Crime and punishment in the eighteenth century

Crime and Punishment in the 18th Century

When looking for research into issues such as crime and punishment in the 18th century, many people use sites like Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica. They both offer information, but how easy that information is to find and whether any of it conflicts between the two sites is the real consideration. With both sites, it is not possible to search specifically for crime and punishment in the 18th century. Neither one of the sites has that listed as a specific page or entry. However, that does not mean that information about that issue is not available. It is a matter of how the search is conducted that can produce results. Sometimes, it is necessary to search for several things on the same site, collect information from each entry, and then put all the collected information together in order to arrive at an understanding of the subject as a whole.

This is the method that must be used with Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia. As one searches out "crime," "punishment," and "18th century," one will find an overlap of sorts that will show how the three search areas come together to provide a comprehensive view of the original study subject. Wikipedia is easier to search overall, because it provides search suggestions as one is typing in the search box (Wikipedia, 2011). This can help guide one's thoughts to the right type of search for the desired information. Wikipedia also has its pages broken down with a table of contents on each one, so that a person who is looking for only a specific section of a page is able to quickly jump to that section and find what is needed in order to be successful in his or her query.

With Encyclopedia Britannica, there is no auto-complete in the search box, and the box itself is a dark blue (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011). The black letters that are typed into the box are nearly impossible to read, which can mean mistakes are easily made if one is not extremely careful when typing. This particular website provides the searcher with a list of entries related to the search. Some of the entries are closely related, but the search function appears to pull up every entry that has any of the words for which a person searches. That can be very frustrating, because it produces a large number of entries that are not related in any way to the original search. Encyclopedia Britannica also requires a person to sign up for a free trial period in order to read any of the entries (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011). After that trial period is over, one must pay for the service. Wikipedia requires no sign-up, and there is no cost for searching or reading on the site (Wikipedia, 2011).

Overall, Wikipedia excels over Encyclopedia Britannica when searching for crime and punishment in the 18th century or anything else. While neither site has a page specifically dedicated to that issue and it is necessary to perform several searches on each site in order to collect information about the topic, Wikipedia does not require a sign-up and will not charge people for reading it after the free trial period has expired. One can simply go to the site and read the pages. There is also the benefit of the auto-complete feature in the search box, so one can determine if the needed pages even exist. In addition, being able to see what one is typing into the search box is vital, and the muted, dark colors on the Encyclopedia Britannica site make that very difficult.