Have actual hardback encyclopedias become a thing of the past?

Similar questions: actual hardback encyclopedias thing past.

My office has a set of "Encyclopaedia Britannica," vintage 1990, and I consult them every so often. I very much miss the set of "Golden Home and gh School Encyclopedia" that my mother bought, one volume at a time, at the local supermarket. I hardly need it now, but that's the only encyclopedia I had.(Most of my books were lost in the aftermath of an apartment-building fire.) I also crave a 1980s edition of "World Book," since it had really good illustrations of historic and ethnic costume.

My local library (I call it "my tavern"), has a recent set of "World Book," and I'm sure they see action. I use Wikipedia every day, but a distressing number of the articles I see are stubs—only a fragment of information, or none, is provided. A good in-print encyclopedia can provide a greater depth of information on a particular topic.

But some Wikipedia articles I've read are quite detailed. So my assessment would be that there's room for both—the online and in-print.An online encyclopedia takes up less physical space and can be updated in a trice! Old encyclopedias are not necessarily candidates for the rubbish bin.

There are many families and schools that would love to have a set of oldies. I know of a man who purchased a set of old Britannicas .. Twelfth edition or something like that .. Cheaply, and describes it as an "evergreen." it's famous among collectors of vintage books for the caliber of its articles on classical literature and ancient history, etc. And you can't curl up with an online encyclopedia during a power failure or when the batteries are kaput.

You know I really enjoyed your answer on this matter. Wait a second go back even further to the New Standard (the red ones) encyclopedia's. Now there's something to talk about.So are you actually saying they have not printed any new sets of encyclopedias since the 90's?

Silky1 11 months ago .

Thanks for the kind words, Silky1. I don't mean to imply that encyclopedias aren't being printed any more. I believe that "Britannica" and "World Book" are still being published annually, and there may be others.

But those are the biggies. My boss purchased the "Britannica" in 1990, and we have the yearbooks through 1998 . .. All but one haven't been opened!

As for PammyJ's comment, I empathize. But that's how encyclopedia salesmen made their livings! And at least you got a lot of use out of the se your father purchased.

I believe that there are libraries in poorer schools that might be able to use "outdated" encyclopedias. Something like that might still have value as a reference or English-language-learning tool. When I went to a "Legislative Day" gathering of librarians (I'm a library patron) at the state capital back in 2004, we received packets of information, and one item was a reprint from the "New York Times" about how poorer, chronically underfunded public schools had libraries with pathetically outdated and inadequate collections.

The story focused on one particular school. The librarian was indignant, but she could only do so much to remedy the situation. (I suspect that the ensuing publicity helped to spur donations of books.) And there are schools overseas that might be able to use a set of old Britannicas.

Some of the information doesn't really change—it's the biographies of current celebrities and events (mostly) that become quickly outdated. And you know what some folks have done? Used old volumes or "altered books," and even made coffee tables out of them .. .

Drilling holes right through the casually stacked old books to insert support pipes!(The magazine that featured this option cautioned the potential project-crafters that drilling holes wasn't for those who valued their books. ) .

Pammy! Regarding schools in poorer neighborhoods, the challenge would be connecting the needy school with the surplus books. I belong to a local Freecycle group.Freecycle.org is a national online network bringing together people with surplus items and people who want them.No money or selling or buying is involved—it's all free.

You can join and—for example—post that you have some books you'd like to donate to a local school whose library can use them, and see what sort of results you get. Teachers use Freecycle as a way to obtain free craft materials, used magazines, etc.Most of the time, the "customer" comes to pick up the items .. You are not obligated to go drop them off, although you can arrange to do that if you like. And many Freecycle items have a pickup deadline: "Please pick up by Sunday or it goes to the curb."Needless to say, I belong to PaperbackSwap.com.

Rochester, New York has a Yahoo group called Rochester ReUseIt, which split off from Freecycle because of privacy concerns. I belong to both networks.So Freecycle isn't the only such network, although it may be the biggest. There are networks devoted to recycling computers, too.

There seems to be a use for almost everything. Old large towels, too shabby for people, can be donated to your local animal shelter. I donate surplus drugstore items to Alternatives for Battered Women.

(They also take baby clothes and a variety of other items, and the specifics are posted on its Website.) As for old encyclopedias, I'm sure that there is a "want" for the "have. "One of my friends told me that her husband had recently incinerated an old multi-volume electronics encyclopedia (he has a custom-built furnace and burns all sorts of rubbish), only to discover that an identical set was selling for something like $500 on eBay.Yipes.

You know, I feel so sorry for my dad. He was living oo a teacher's salary (a pittance I the early 60's) and five kids, and got duped into spending $1,500 on a Britannica (I think) encylopedia set. The salesman even washed and waxed my mom's floorr to sell it.

We all got a lot of use out of it. It is encased in a beautiful cabinet that my dad built and he does not want to throw them away, notr will anyone buy them. It is so sad!

He doesn't want to get rid of them,my bet is they are reminder of how much he loves his children. Silky1 11 months ago .

It would be like throwing away memories. Thanks for the nice answer.

There was an answer fro m below and don't know how to adress it. If he says there are poor neighborhoods that would enjoy these tomes, I would surely love to do nate them. If you have any examples of who might interested, Please let me knkow!

Thanks so much! .

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.