Print encyclopedias - RIP
Friday, March 21, 2008 at 07:19AM From the New York Times "Start Writing the Eulogies for Print Encyclopedias," March 16, 2008:
A series of announcements from publishers across the globe in the last few weeks suggests that the long migration to the Internet has picked up pace, and that ahead of other books, magazines and even newspapers, the classic multivolume encyclopedia is well on its way to becoming the first casualty in the end of print.
What, first no Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, and now no print encyclopedia? The world is definitely going to hell in a handbasket. (Official slogan of the 50+ club.)
I do have to say that I read this article with a twinge of sadness. As a kid, I remember spending many hours reading the two battered sets of encyclopedias in our home. (Yes, children, by lamplight.) I particuarly liked the plastic sheets displaying human anatomy in one of the volumes, as I recall.
Will my grandson's will have the same fond memories of Worldbook Online?
Reader Comments (13)
Ha. I still use and teach the Readers' Guide and will probably do so until they pry the beloved green books from my cold, dead hands. One very practical reason for this stodginess is that we don't have enough computers for everyone when a class visits. And, yes, the kids LIKE them. I also still show H.W. Wilson's "How to Use the Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature" video, which was recorded in *gasp* 1987. I persist because there's a lovely scene of an indexer at Wilson, in the Bronx, reading through an article and, in his human-skilled way, selecting the subject headings. At the end of the video, I ask the kids which of the adults in the video would still have a job in today's world (there's a high school librarian, the indexer, and a data entry input operator sitting in front of a giant terminal). Only the data entry input operator has lost out (if they say the high school librarian, I kick them in the shins). Wilson (and many other database producers) still uses human indexers because computers still can't be programmed to understand the contents of an article.
The only demoralizing thing about showing this video is that I have since seen the woman who plays the librarian in two rerun episodes of Law and Order. Which means that she most likely was a professional actress the whole time, and not a real librarian. I was crushed.
Now, let me tell you about my friend, World Book...
I remember my parents paying (around $1000?) for a full set of the World Book when I was in 4th grade and then buying the annual supplements for many years after. It looked pretty classy on the shelf in the family room and, yes, the acetate overlays were cool.
But I also remember my 6th grade teacher telling me I couldn't use the encyclopedia as a source for a report. And that I often found errors or omissions in the articles, especially as the books and I got older and they didn't change.
I suppose there is a little nostalgia for hard cover reference books (I still have a 20 year old copy of the American Heritage Dictionary that came with an award early in my career). However, I would rather have immediate access to accurate, up-to-date information from anywhere I happen to be.
Sorry, Doug, I'm not sure the disappearance of print reference books is a sign of the decline of western civilization. :-)
Hi!
As much as I *LOVE* virtual encyclopedias (I could not live without my 300+ books in my GALE Virtual Reference Library), I will say that the thought of someone not having the joy of discovering something in a print encyclopedia makes me a tad wistful.
Some friends gave my parents their 1960 something set of Childcraft encyclopedias when I was about 7---I remember poring over them time and again (I would read anything!). In fact, I still have them! I also had a children's set of Encyclopedia Britannicas that I thought were cool, plus my parents scraped pennies and built a whole set of Funk and Wagnalls encyclopedias from the local grocery store.
While I do love that my kids can access our virtual reference library 24/7 and that I don't have to worry about ripped pages, lost books, or cut-out photos, I do think they still can enjoy interacting with a hard copy. :-)
Buffy Hamilton
I'm still not sold on going all virtual when it comes to encyclopedias. If a student wants to know a ready reference factoid, I can help him or her look it up in the index of the print encyclopedia, pull out the volume and turn to the page and have the student reading an article before most computers in our school are finished with their boot cycle.
I too have a soft spot for World Book as I remember lying in the floor at my grandparents' house reading them cover to cover. Of course, they were a 1968 set, so I always chuckled at the "Will Man Ever Walk on the Moon?" article. Good times, good times.
My sister and I still enjoy a set of encyclopedias that we read as children. It is an off brand set and has one book just for literature. We both remember our mother reading the stories to us over and over again. Now an entire World Book Encyclopedia set can be traded for about three dollars at Half Price Books. I watch with amazement at how fast my grandsons catch on to new technology and just accept it as part of life. My childhood moved at a much slower pace.
Hi Francey,
Great stories! I really didn't know that they still published the Reader's Guide in print.
I remember teaching it to 5th graders I think and giving them the objective test that came with the teaching package at the time (along with the spirit masters and overhead transparencies. They'd all do well except for the stupid question that asked: "Under what circumstances would you use the RG?" I still use this as a story about teaching a skill out of context, so the RG has a warm place in my heart.
Take care!
Doug
Hi Tim,
I still have my grandmother's Webster's 2nd Unabridged Dictionary - all 30 pounds or so. But I too like the built in dictionary on the computer or m-w.com!
I suspect my grandsons will wax nostalgic about Lego StarWars or some other fond pastime.
Oh, it's already too late for Western Civilization!
All the best,
Doug
Hi Shannon and Buffy,
I hope for most libraries it will always be a case of "and" not "or" when it comes to format.
All the best,
Doug
Hi Betty,
We had a variety of odd book sets around the house too. I wish I still had some of them! There are folk tales I remember from childhood that I have never found again.
And you are right about kids' childhoods moving faster than ours did.
All the best,
Doug
Doug and Shannon:
I agree---I think both versions have merits and should be utilized!
Shannon, all of our resources in our GALE Virtual Reference Library actually have an e-index and e-contents---identical to what is in print, but you jump to the page through hypertext. I really do like my GALE virtual reference books because the student can use the HTML version or a PDF file that it identical to the print edition, plus the articles can be translated in 9 languages (great for ESOL).
As much as I love print reference, I will say that there are many research projects that we have done in the two years my library has open that could have never happened as they did without our GVRL. For an entire class to be able to go to an article in the same volume of a particular reference book at one time instead of having to share one print copy was liberating.
I realize not all electronic or virtual encyclopedias are created equally...hopefully, more might incorporate the print features as GALE is with their GVRL.
Best,
Buffy Hamilton :-)
Hi Doug,
As well as a complete encyclopedia set that we got thirty years ago from two young travelling scholars one summer, we have the two volume set of the Complete Oxford Dictionary which needs to be read with a magnifying glass. I still keep that relic in our digital age. I have yet to check out the Oxford Dictionary site online which is probably fantastic as we near the documentation of one million words for the language.
Paul,
I always wanted one of the those little OEDs! I loved the little drawer the magnifying glass came it. It was a source I had to use often in grad school - the convenience of having one at home seemed almost worth the bodacious price.
All the best,
Doug
I think there is still a case for a really good one volume encyclopedia in print format-the Columbia or David Crystal's Penguin are examples-for when computers crash etc,etc.
I find old encyclopedias fascinating. I think that to immerse oneself in,lets say, the old Great Soviet Encyclopedia would give you so many insights as to how that society thought/saw the world.
My favourite set of old encycloedias are 11 volumes of the 12 vol Oxford Junior Encyclopedia from the 1950s- i only lack the volume on engineering. They are well written and superbly illustrated and ioriginal in conception - i love them!
Hi Ian,
I grew up with print encyclopedias at home and I still have a great sentimental attachment to them. Good to hear there are still some of value out there.
Thanks for the comment,
Doug