Encyclopedia Evolution
Posted by: Rebecca Vnuk
Over the past few months I’ve been writing about what Reference Books Bulletin‘s annual Encyclopedia Update tells us about some of the changes in encyclopedia publishing. Previous posts are here, here, and here.
As they entered the twenty-first century, encyclopedia publishers offered a dizzying array of formats–print, disc-based (both CD and DVD), and Internet-based. For several years, CD-ROM had been the format of choice if multimedia was a priority. Though Compton’s introduced the first truly multimedia CD-ROM encyclopedia, it was Microsoft’s Encarta that was setting the multimedia standard. Disc-based encyclopedias presented several challenges for librarians, however, including the amount of hard disk space they required. Meanwhile, Internet versions of encyclopedias were catching up as bandwidth improved. Seeing the writing on the wall, we stopped reviewing CD-ROM encyclopedias–in fact, any CD-ROMs– in 2002. More and more, the action was online, with publishers looking for ways to capitalize on what an online platform could offer.
On November 16, I’ll be moderating a Booklist Webinar, “Encyclopedia Evolution,” that will look at many of these changes. Joe Janes of the University of Washington Information School will be joined by representatives from our sponsors, the three encyclopedia publishers still standing: Britannica, Grolier (now part of Scholastic), and World Book. For more information and to register, click here.
