britannica to stop printing books

[alocispepraluger102]

My link

[Pete C]

This is one of the most significant moves in the transition from print to digital since the advent of the e-reader.

[BruceH]

I was expecting this, but still, rather sobering news. There goes a 244-year-old tradition.

[alocispepraluger102]

the far more practical world book was published in 2011. i am not aware of their plans to publish subsequent bound editions.

[JSngry]

We had World Book when I was a kid. Couldn't afford Brittanica, but the folks insisted on have a set of encyclopedias in the house. We got the yearbooks all the way into the 70s. They were very handy and evry through in subject matter, if not always in content. It was a start, and quite often, enough to serve the purpose.

Didn't get Brittanica for our kids because the digital revolution was already underway. Got them Encarta ever year and Google instead. Again, purposes served.

Always wanted a set of Brittanica because our pastor had a set in his office, and while I was waiting in his office after confirmation class while my dad attended Elder's meetings and stuff like that, I'd use them for homework and dug the shit out of them. Outstanding, they were, simply outstanding.

Oh well...

[Justin V]

When I was 8 or so, my sister called the toll-free number from the then-ubiquitous Britannica commercials. An elderly salesman showed up and made a successful pitch. In the pre-internet days, those Britannica and Compton's encyclopedias were a great resource.

[ejp626]

To be honest, I was never that interested in owning a hardbound Encyclopedia set, and I do think the digital revolution was an improvement there. I've owned a couple of Encyclopedias on DVD, but I doubt I've consulted them more than once or twice. For simple, immediate look-up questions I do go to Wikipedia, but in general I am more likely to go to non-fiction books on the subjects of interest to me. Printed encyclopedias are too "in-between" for my needs.

One thing that I do wish I had bought (when it was still available through History Book of the Month club) was the Durants' The Story of Civilization (in 11 volumes). Sure it's plenty dated, but what a massive undertaking and certainly the most successful popularization of history (prior to Ken Burns). I don't really have the shelf space at the moment, but if I do succeed in clearing out some space, I will look into picking up a copy. Alternatively, I can ask my father if he still has his set, and put my dibs on it now...

Edited March 14, 2012 by ejp626

[GA Russell]

I had the four-volume Canadian Encyclopedia when it came out about 1980. Most of what I learned I picked up on the way to finding the page that had what I was looking for on it. Very interesting stuff. I still have it somewhere.

[alocispepraluger102]

a grand lady changes realms

[medjuck]

Thirty years ago a friend of mine tried to get Britannica to start producing things for computers. He says he gave up when he realized they thought they were in the furniture business.

[Soulstation1]

Is there a market for people selling older complete sets?

[Ted O'Reilly]

There's an amusing book by A.J. Jacobs called "The Know-It-All", wherein he tells of his efforts in reading the complete Encyclopedia Britannica. It's described as One Man's HUMBLE QUEST to become the SMARTEST PERSON in the World. It's from 2004, but it looks like it wouldn't be created after today...

[danasgoodstuff]

the far more practical world book was published in 2011. i am not aware of their plans to publish subsequent bound editions.

I'm looking at a 2012 World Book here at Reference Line in Multnomah county Library's Central branch, wee have this big multitierd lazy susan kinda thing. When I worked in a neighborhood branch where we had both, I used World Book for homework Q's way more than Brittanica

[Quincy]

Is there a market for people selling older complete sets?

It depends on how old and probably some luck too. Most of the time you can't even give them away to Goodwill & the like. But right now on eBay there's a 1957 with many bids at $152 and a 1970 set with 8 bids at $75. And a 1958 with 1 bid for $249. No action on the other sets of varying years.

I grew up w/ the 1967 set. When the time comes to deal with "what to do" I'm sure I'll part with it as I have no desire to move it all 2000 miles away. If the fate was a garbage dump I would be tempted to take the book with anatomy, as the transparencies were very cool. I imagine the set I grew up with has less value than most as my parents smoked like fiends.

[Dave James]

Never had Britannica when we were kids. A set of 1958 World Books in white leather binding held down that fort all the way through high school. Frankly, I'm surprised that the decision to stop printing bound, hardcover encyclopedias has taken this long. With all of the real time information that's long been available on the internet, they went the way of the dinosaur at least 10 years ago. Still, for those of us old enough to remember using reference books like this, you can't help but feel a mild sense of melancholia associated with their passing. Much the same as when you realized vinyl records were disappearing. Only difference (and you heard it here first) is that the encyclopedia will not be making a comeback.

Edited March 15, 2012 by Dave James

[medjuck]

IIIRC we had a set called The Book of Knowledge" which sent out yearbooks every year too.

[GA Russell]

We had the Americana from the mid-40s. I rarely used it.

[Pete C]

I'd guess the famous 1911 edition would fetch a nice price in good condition. It is available online for free.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Main_Page

as well as on Project Gutenberg.

[.:.impossible]

We grew up with a set of World Books. My brother and I used them extensively. I remember trying to find out more about AIDS as a fifth grader without my parents knowing.

The world changes, and certain topics will be out of date, but I'd like to have these books for my kids to grow up with.

[JSngry]

World Book used to (still does?) offer a set called Childcraft, which was a multi-volume set for younger kids that covered a wide variety of subjects, music, art, history, etc. We had those, too. They were cool.

Remember when parents actually wanted their kids to be smart and were willing to actually do things themselves to encourage it instead of just bitching that the schools suck?

[ejp626]

Remember when parents actually wanted their kids to be smart and were willing to actually do things themselves to encourage it instead of just bitching that the schools suck?

I suspect the percentages of parents who care and are strivers for their kids are pretty much the same as they always were. Kids still end up enrolled in all kinds of after-school programs, tutoring, etc. Just these parents pretty much keep their heads down and don't post about what they are up to on message boards, particularly political message boards.

I would agree that in many cities the challenges have grown enormously and in many (not all) urban public schools the quality on offer is much less than in was in the past (and much, much, much less compared to the near mythic quality of urban public education of the 1950s say).

[Neal Pomea]

I don't often use encyclopedias, but if it's $70 for an annual subscription to EB online, that's worth it. It's a shame if that price is going to be too steep for families who opt for Wikipedia instead. But that's how it is when money is tight.

[JSngry]

Remember when parents actually wanted their kids to be smart and were willing to actually do things themselves to encourage it instead of just bitching that the schools suck?

I suspect the percentages of parents who care and are strivers for their kids are pretty much the same as they always were. Kids still end up enrolled in all kinds of after-school programs, tutoring, etc. Just these parents pretty much keep their heads down and don't post about what they are up to on message boards, particularly political message boards.

I would agree that in many cities the challenges have grown enormously and in many (not all) urban public schools the quality on offer is much less than in was in the past (and much, much, much less compared to the near mythic quality of urban public education of the 1950s say).

You may be right, but it seems to me that "education" now too often is viewed as some mysterious side-effect of just showing up than it is something you have to work at.

And don't get me started on the effect that the breakdown of the nuclear family has had on the kids and the single parents raising them and the pressures this puts on a school system...grrrrrrrr....

[Pete C]

I don't often use encyclopedias, but if it's $70 for an annual subscription to EB online, that's worth it. It's a shame if that price is going to be too steep for families who opt for Wikipedia instead. But that's how it is when money is tight.

My guess is that any subject that's in Britannica will have a well researched and community vetted Wikipedia entry that's just fine. I think the dangers of shoddy work or possible misinformation on Wikipedia generally come in the obscure entries that aren't well reviewed by other contributors.

Wikipedia is about as good a source of accurate information as Britannica, the venerable standard-bearer of facts about the world around us, according to a study published this week [December 2005] in the journal Nature.

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1038_3-5997332.html

Edited March 15, 2012 by Pete C

[Neal Pomea]

My guess is that any subject that's in Britannica will have a well researched and community vetted Wikipedia entry that's just fine. I think the dangers of shoddy work or possible misinformation on Wikipedia generally come in the obscure entries that aren't well reviewed by other contributors.

The study in Nature had only to do with Science entries in Brittanica and Wikipedia. There are many non-obscure topics that are not in the area of science. It could be that the scientific community is contributing to Wikipedia articles, but that is not the same as saying Wikipedia is as accurate overall as EB or as well written and documented.