Encyclopedia

IV

Encyclopedias in the Eastern World

Over the centuries many encyclopedias have been produced in China. Most of them are of great length and consist of anthologies of significant literary and historical texts and biographies, arranged according to various classifications. The first known Chinese encyclopedia was The Emperor's Mirror (about ad 220), but it has not survived. The first modern encyclopedia was published in 1915. The first multivolume Chinese encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia of China, began publication in 1982 with a volume on astronomy. It was completed in 1993 and includes 74 monographic volumes covering the fields of philosophy, the humanities, the social and natural sciences, and technology. The illustrated, signed articles include bibliographies. A yearbook was also begun to complement the encyclopedia; it includes the latest information on events in China.

In Japan, The Great Japanese Encyclopedia (10 volumes, 1908-1919), although similar to modern Western works, is largely an anthology of scientific texts. More general reference sources include Japonica (19 volumes, 1967-1972) and the Encyclopedia Heibonsha (1984-1985).

Arabic encyclopedias, like the Chinese works, were anthologies of texts designed to help public officials with their varied administrative duties. The earliest Arabic encyclopedia, The Best Traditions, appeared in the 9th century. The ten-volume collection of poetry and prose is arranged by topic and set the example for later works. A modern work, the Global Arabic Encyclopedia, was published in 1996.

V

North American Encyclopedias

The encyclopedic works published in North America during the 19th and 20th centuries included many works of general reference in various formats, designed for general readers or specifically for younger readers. Most of these encyclopedias, in addition to being frequently revised, were kept current with annual yearbooks that supplemented the basic encyclopedia articles.

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The 30-volume Encyclopedia Americana was originally compiled in 1829 by German American publicist and educator Francis Lieber. Other general reference works that appeared included the 1-volume Columbia Encyclopedia (first edition, 1935; sixth edition, The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2000), the 24-volume Collier’s Encyclopedia (first edition, 1949-1951), and the 20-volume Encyclopedia International (first edition, 1963).

The 14th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1929) was fully revised and reissued in 24 volumes. In 1974 a completely new edition (15th edition, 30 volumes) appeared, entitled the New Encyclopædia Britannica and familiarly known as Britannica 3. The format included a 1-volume Propaedia outlining the “circle of modern knowledge,” a 10-volume Micropaedia with ready reference entries, and a 19-volume Macropaedia containing longer articles offering “knowledge in depth.” Revised in 32 volumes in 1985, the set later included a 2-volume index, a 1-volume Propaedia, a 12-volume Micropaedia, and a 17-volume Macropaedia.

Other American encyclopedias for the general adult reader included the Random House Encyclopedia (first edition, 1977; revised edition, 1990), published in two sections: a Colorpedia made up of long articles on broad topics and an Alphapedia of short articles that are alphabetically arranged. The 21-volume Academic American Encyclopedia (first edition 1980) was based on the short-entry approach. The Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia was first published in 1912 and was revised many times after that. The 1971 edition, Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, had 29 volumes.

A three-volume Canadian Encyclopedia (1st edition, 1985), designed to replace Encyclopedia Canadiana (10 volumes; 11th edition, 1975), was revised and expanded to four volumes in 1988. It was updated and revised as a single-volume edition in 2000. Comprehensive in the scope of subjects it covered, the work maintained a Canadian emphasis throughout.

Some encyclopedias were aimed at younger readers. These works tended to use relatively basic vocabulary while still exploring topics in depth. Notable among these encyclopedias were the 22-volume World Book Encyclopedia (first edition, 1917); the 15-volume Compton’s Pictured Encyclopedia (first edition, 1922), which later became the 26-volume Compton’s Encyclopedia; and the 21-volume New Book of Knowledge (first edition, 1966), published by Grolier and based on the older Book of Knowledge (first edition, 1910). In 1972 Funk & Wagnalls first published the Young Students Encyclopedia, in 20 volumes. It was revised and released under the title Young Students Learning Library in 1988.

VI

Recent Developments in Encyclopedia Publishing

Beginning in the 1980s encyclopedia publishing expanded to nonprint formats—first through dial-up systems, then by using compact discs (CD-ROMs) and digital versatile discs (DVDs), and finally through the Internet. In the early 1980s Academic American Encyclopedia, published by Grolier, became available online through a number of information services. Computer users accessed the encyclopedia by means of a modem that used telephone lines to link the computer to the text in the Academic American Encyclopedia database.

In the 1980s, encyclopedia content became available on computers in CD-ROM format. Encyclopedias in this format integrated sound, pictures, animation, and text. The first such encyclopedia was produced by Grolier in 1985. Compton’s Multimedia Encyclopedia was released in CD-ROM format in 1989.

In 1993 the Microsoft Corporation released Encarta Encyclopedia, a general multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM without an accompanying multivolume book set. Encyclopædia Britannica’s first electronic version was also published in 1993. A multimedia version of World Book Encyclopedia appeared on CD-ROM in 1995, although World Book had previously released an electronic encyclopedia called the Information Finder. The Canadian Encyclopedia appeared on CD-ROM in 1996. In 1999 Encarta Africana, dealing with the experiences of Africans, African Americans, and other people of African descent, became one of the first encyclopedias to appear first in CD-ROM format, and then later in print.

In December 1997 Encarta Encyclopedia became the first encyclopedia to be published in the DVD format. DVDs can store much more information than CD-ROMs, allowing greater use of complex multimedia features such as videos, animations, and interactivities.

Another innovation in encyclopedia publishing in the late 1990s involved the Internet. The Internet was first developed in the 1960s, but it was not until the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1989 that it became feasible to transfer multimedia information over computer networks. By the late 1990s computers and modems were powerful enough to allow encyclopedia publishers to develop online versions of their products. The online versions typically included all the text of the print and electronic disc versions, as well as much of the multimedia. The Internet also enabled publishers of CD-ROM encyclopedias to update the content of the CD-ROM. In 1995 Encarta published the first hybrid online-CD-ROM encyclopedia. This hybrid version could be updated monthly by downloading content from the Internet. The content was then seamlessly integrated with the content on the CD-ROM. Several later versions enabled weekly updates, and other CD-ROM encyclopedia publishers followed suit, adopting similar functionality.

Online publication, however, freed readers from having to install the products from CD-ROMs or DVDs. The new system also allowed encyclopedia editors to update their products much more frequently than they could when publishing on paper or on electronic disc. By the year 2000, several major North American encyclopedias—including Compton’s Encyclopedia, Encarta Encyclopedia, Encyclopædia Britannica, the New Book of Knowledge published by Groliers, and the World Book Encyclopedia—were available online.

In the early 21st century a new type of online encyclopedia, known as Wikipedia, enabled readers to create and edit encyclopedia articles. A wiki is a type of server software that enables users to create or alter content on a Web page. Wikipedia was closely associated with the open source software movement and rapidly expanded to include hundreds of thousands of articles, many on popular culture topics, in a number of languages. The philosophy behind Wikipedia was that a community of volunteers could pool their knowledge and crosscheck their work to create a free encyclopedia. Articles were often written by enthusiasts, rather than experts, and they remained unsigned and “open” to revision. Due to Wikipedia’s open-access policy, it was sometimes the target of vandalism or abuse. However, a crew of volunteer editors policed the site, usually identifying malicious content quickly and removing it. In cases where a subject was particularly controversial the article could be “locked” so that further alterations or amendments could not be made. Wikipedia became immensely popular as more and more people used the Web as a research tool, and it succeeded in receiving top rankings in search engine results.

A variant of Wikipedia was created by the Internet search engine Google in 2008. This online site, called Knol, also contained content provided by users, but the authors signed their articles and had the option of maintaining editorial control over the material in them.

In March 2009 Microsoft announced that it was discontinuing Encarta in light of changes in the way people “seek and consume information.” According to the announcement, Encarta discs would no longer be sold after June 2009, and its online sites would all disappear by the end of the year.

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