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Books take about a year to be published. They will not include the latest studies and research. Textbooks and encyclopedias are good for basic information. Further editions of books demonstrate that a source has been updated to reflect new information and may be a standard source in the field. Are there newer editions available?
The humanities disciplines may publish new ideas in either a book and or a journal. In contrast, science disciplines prefer to publish in journals.
Reference books, such as encyclopedias and dictionaries, collect accepted facts from the established literature. In health and science, they can be huge and may take years to put together. Therefore, they do not contain the most current information, although they may mention studies that were recent at the the time of publication. But they are a good one-stop-shop to start by learning the basics of a topic.
Not all encyclopedias are alike. The Encycopedia Brittanicca and Worldbook Encyclopedias are organized in a traditional encyclopedia format with alphabetically-listed topic entries followed by relatively brief descriptions. However, some disciplines may include reviews, criticims, formulas, images, symbols, properties, and other disciplines-specific data.