The E-Sylum:  Volume 6, Number 4, January 26, 2003, Article 15

ENCYCLOPEDIAS BACK FROM THE DEAD

  Speaking of encyclopedias, a Boston Globe article
  on December 30, 2002 reported that despite the
  pounding they took from electronic media, the good
  old-fashioned hardcopy encyclopedia is enjoying a
  revival of sorts.  Long live the book!

  "In its knotty-pine bookcase, the encyclopedia remained a
  kind of home intellectual center for decades. A thousand
  times we heard ''Look it up in the Britannica'' when we had
  a question or homework assignment, even after the battered
  row of brown volumes was long outdated.

  That story is legion in America, though the brand might be
  Compton's, World Book, or Americana.  In today's online
  world, however, one might reasonably consider the row of
  dignified volumes a quaint relic, like glass milk bottles or the
  slide rule.

  But the surprising fact is that printed encyclopedias are not
  only still around, they seem to be enjoying a modest revival.
  Publishers are rediscovering how to reach the customer who
  thinks a printed book is still the best source of knowledge.
  After a four-year hiatus, Encyclopaedia Britannica, based in
  Chicago, has almost sold out the new edition it released this
  year and is planning a revision for next year. Libraries remain
  the best customers, but there is still a core of people who
  want that row of books at home."

  "But just as radio survived television and records didn't kill
  off live performances, the printed encyclopedia stuck around.

  ''People were still asking about the print set,'' says Patti Ginnis,
  Britannica's sales director. Schools and libraries still wanted
  encyclopedias, and individuals like Schiebler continued to
  order them. ''It wasn't huge,'' Ginnis says, ''but it did make us
  sit up and take notice. It made us realize that people were
  still interested.''

  Britannica began to showcase the print set on its Web site
  and to sell it in booths at state fairs and all kinds of
  professional trade shows with surprising success."

  "A 2002 study of research habits by Outsell Inc., a market
  research company based in San Francisco, found that while
  people will use the Internet for a fast information search,
  they tend to place more trust in a book."

  ''One significant finding was that print is the preferred format
  for using content, though not the preferred format for finding it,''

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/364/living/Encyclopedias_still_speak_volumes+.shtml

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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