let's debate encyclopedias

[Pua'i Mana'o]

I want to 'correct' my spelling of the plural form as encyclopediae, but openmearse it ain't.

So what you guys. In this day and age are these tomes too archaic? Do they serve a purpose if we have school-aged children? Does anyone recall actually ~learning something~ because of that old set on the library shelf? What purpose do they serve in this Y2K age?

I debate this in my head all of the time.

When is the last time you pulled out a book from an encyclopedia set and used it? If you had the shelf space and the dough, would you consider it a worthwhile purchase? Where is your tipping point with these in justifying its expense? Do tell.

[manoasurfer123]

For a young child... say maybe between the ages 4-8... I think a good Children's Encyclopedia is good for them.

I don't want them looking up "nuts" on the computer and coming across "balls";)

"If you want to get into Who's Who, you'd better first learn what's what"

[scrivener]

Oh my. I had a set on loan from a family friend, and I read it all the time. I still love the books much more than anything online or on a disc. If I had the money, I'd find the space for them if I had any kids, and we'd use that thing frequently. I'm something of a dictionary geek, and I consult (even just browse) that regulary; I'd like to teach my future kids to love books the same way. There's nothing like an encyclopedia.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Manoa, nuts ≠ balls is a very good example.

please review that (http://cgi.ebay.com/1910-1911-Encyclopaedia-Britannica-Eleventh-Edition_W0QQitemZ110043490293QQihZ001QQcategoryZ29 223QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) which got me thinking about encyclopedias.

I have heard it before that the "1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica" set is considered the standard by which all other sets are measured, and that all collectively suck in comparision. I know that there is a website (http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Main_Page) which hosts all of its contents. Some say that there is no finer way to learn about pre-20th century western history than to get it out of this set.

I am conflicted. I don't need this set. There are cheaper ways of getting the same information (e.g. the free website, and the web in general). But I am experiencing this primal, visceral, book-envy for these books and I am sucking my thumb, mulling it over.

What would make you get a set? Would you buy it fresh-off-the-press, or get an old set? Which brand? Did anyone grow up with them in the house?

questions, questions...

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Oh my...I'm something of a dictionary geek, and I consult (even just browse) that regulary...

I do that, too. I have several dictionaries, but my favorite is the unabridged version I got 10ish years ago. I could spend all day cruising-n-perusing the dictionary.

[manoasurfer123]

Manoa, nuts ≠ balls is a very good example.

please review that (http://cgi.ebay.com/1910-1911-Encyclopaedia-Britannica-Eleventh-Edition_W0QQitemZ110043490293QQihZ001QQcategoryZ29 223QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) which got me thinking about encyclopedias.

I have heard it before that the "1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica" set is considered the standard by which all other sets are measured, and that all collectively suck in comparision. I know that there is a website (http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Main_Page) which hosts all of its contents. Some say that there is no finer way to learn about pre-20th century western history than to get it out of this set.

I am conflicted. I don't need this set. There are cheaper ways of getting the same information (e.g. the free website, and the web in general). But I am experiencing this primal, visceral, book-envy for these books and I am sucking my thumb, mulling it over.
Being that I don't know much about EBAY... I did notice that he is a "Power-Seller" which typically means a re-seller of things other people didn't want in a bigger version... but like I said... I don't know much about Ebay... also I noticed that he appeared to have some sort of a book store also... which makes me think why can't he just sell them there...


What would make you get a set? Would you buy it fresh-off-the-press, or get an old set? Which brand? Did anyone grow up with them in the house?

questions, questions...
Curiosity and if I had space and money, then yes...other than that... I wouldn't. I got a free set of Encyclopedias every year from my grandparents while I was growing up as they got a new set each year to keep up with "Medical Stuff"... which makes me laugh that Doctors would actually do Research in the 60's using Encyclopedia's.... however, that's a whole new thread that could be started. So yes... I grew up with them in my house until about 10 years ago.

And yes, I did use them all the time during High School, however, now I wouldn't want or buy a set. (It seems like they give you a free disk with some sort of encarta encyclopedia each time I buy a new computer and even that disk goes to waist....)

There is so much out there to find on the web... and if you do come across a site that is secured and you need that information.... well take the money that you would have paid for the encyclopedia's and put it to that fee.

[craigwatanabe]

For a young child... say maybe between the ages 4-8... I think a good Children's Encyclopedia is good for them.

I don't want them looking up "nuts" on the computer and coming across "balls";)

"If you want to get into Who's Who, you'd better first learn what's what"


We Agree!! I learned a lot from encyopedias growing up. We had three sets, one was the Groiler's, World Book, and a science encyclopedia that I can't remember who was the publisher.

One thing about books is that when the power goes off (as it does a lot I see on Oahu) or the internet connection fails, you still have a verified hard copy of copyrighted material at your disposal. On the Internet you don't know what's true and what's not anymore.

Plus I think we need to keep up the practice of looking up material by means of a hard copy reference. It's too easy to find thing off the internet these days. Pretty soon reading from a book is going to disappear completely and when technology fails...oh well...who still remembers how to find the square root of any number with a pencil and paper?

[manoasurfer123]

The thing that I think is even more important... Especially for kids in Hawaii...

Is a good solid Atlas.

I couldn't believe when I was showing my wife when we were going to Vegas from California that we could actually go to Mexico and it would be much closer... and she was like for real?:o

I know so many people who have never even left Hawaii before!

So to me... a good Atlas is a great gift for kids about 6-10.
(sorry for the thread drift)

[Glen Miyashiro]

Actually "encyclopedia" is the plural; the singular, which no one ever uses, is "encyclopedium". I grew up with a set of World Book encyclopedia in the house. I have the 1993 Brittanica on my shelf today, along with several dictionaries, thesauri, and other references. They're great. That 1911 EB is mighty tempting.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Thank. You. Glen.

:p

I've stuff to think about...

Is there anyone out there with a contrarian pov? So far it has been a pro-encyclopedia crowd.

[mel]

When I was a kid my parents bought a set of World Book Encyclopedia and the "Childcraft" books. I love the World Book and spent many hours just reading all of the different articles in it. Got a very good general knowledge of all kinds of trivial stuff... was kind of my WWW back in the days before anyone had a computer at home... The funny thing was reading about computers and the state of the art were these giant machines that filled an entire room and stored stuff on punch cards and tape.

Does World Book still publish in book form today? If I had kids I'd get them a set.

[GregLee]

Actually "encyclopedia" is the plural; the singular, which no one ever uses, is "encyclopedium".
If you want to know whether this is actually true, you could look it up in an encyclopedia (which is what I just did).

[oceanpacific]

The book form has been replaced by computer discs, but I grew up with WORLD BOOK (my mother was a sales rep for them), Grolier's BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE, BRITTANICA, COMPTON'S, and a few others.

I bought a WORLD BOOK set during the mid-1980s for my oldest daughter's use.

I have other sets of books, including the ANNALS OF AMERICA, which contain numerous primary-source materials. American History was my college major.

[blueyecicle]

I went and bought the old set of Children's encyclopedia's in Goodwill for my kids...the Golden Book series...then I bought a new set! They use both but the old set is fun for reference to other versions of today's words.

I think it is good they see Gay in 2 books! j/k :p

Don't kick me!
Seriously I am glad I have 2 sets.
But that is just the kids sets. We have a Brittanica set for us, but I use the computer so I stored them.

We have countless Atlas' I buy them whenever I see them no matter how old or new.

[helen]

We had the World Book encyclopedia at our house in the 1960's. With about 3 years worth of Year Books, plus a mechincal device for quizes that you place a paper wheel that had questions on a certain subject.

[anapuni808]

[QUOTE=mel;113779]When I was a kid my parents bought a set of World Book Encyclopedia and the "Childcraft" books. I love the World Book and spent many hours just reading all of the different articles in it. Got a very good general knowledge of all kinds of trivial stuff... was kind of my WWW back in the days before anyone had a computer at home... The funny thing was reading about computers and the state of the art were these giant machines that filled an entire room and stored stuff on punch cards and tape[QUOTE]

When I was a kid, we had World Books and a globe. I used to spin the globe & put my finger on it, with my eyes closed. Wherever it stopped I would look that country/area up in the books. It made me very good at geography and I'm pretty good at trivial pursuit too :) but I was a really geeky kid! Now I think that it's too bad that more kids don't have the same richness of opportunity that I had to give in to my curiousity - it was a solitary experience but very rewarding for me. I learned so much from those books.

I was very fortunate as a child in that my house and that of my relatives were all loaded with books. My daughter says her one of her first memories of me is seeing me with my nose in a book. Luckily, she also learned to loved books at a very early age.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Helen and Anapuni, mahalo for bringing this thread back up. I never did get that encyclopedia set, which is not to say that I will pass up the opportunity in the future.

I think there are fewer smells so wonderful/comforting/stimulating and strange as that of a room filled with old books.

[oceanpacific]

We had the World Book encyclopedia at our house in the 1960's. With about 3 years worth of Year Books, plus a mechincal device for quizes that you place a paper wheel that had questions on a certain subject.

The mechanical device was called "Cyclo-teacher" and was an example of what is referred to as "programmed learning."

[helen]

Are we just limited to discussing the encyclopedias on book form or is it okay to expand to the CD-ROM versions?

[craigwatanabe]

I'd imagine looking up in a defunct encyclopedia the history of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy and see how we grew up with the "first draft" version of the take over.

I remember when the Soviet Union fell, I remarked to one of my friends that there's gonna be a big sale on globes and atlas' now that the republics of the Soviet Union are no more and all them globes will have to be re-done.

[buzz1941]

We have a set of the EB at the Star-Bulletin office, and when the editor wanted to throw them out, the staff squawked!

[Pua'i Mana'o]

grrrooowwwwlll...another set is up on ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/1910-1911-Encyclopaedia-Britannica-Eleventh-Edition_W0QQitemZ110043490293QQcmdZViewItem)...$80 0 pekapeka dollars! Oh my, how beautiful it is, though, especially considering it is 96 yrs old.

[Vanguard]

I'm actually a user of wikipedia, and I like it. I know it has this widespread reputation for being not so accurate due to the open nature, but I believe there are a lot of dedicated editors (sometimes too dedicated and too anal) who weed out the misinformation. I like the variety, and the opportunity to contribute to a knowledge bank. If I was doing scholarly research, though, I wouldn't cite wikipedia, but I may look up pertinent articles, and then follow up using other source material.

[Honoruru]

If I was doing scholarly research, though, I wouldn't cite wikipedia, but I may look up pertinent articles, and then follow up using other source material.

I agree. If you want a quick, overview of a subject you are not familiar with, Wikipedia is very good. You can use it as a guide to find other sources for accurate, in-depth, comprehensive articles. At least you know where or what to look for.