World history encyclopedias
A while back I blogged about how so many publishers were launching electronic databases related to social/current issues. Of course, this same thing happens all the time with print encyclopedias, and it may even be increasing, as every publisher tries to stake a claim for the proprietary electronic databases that these print encyclopedias will feed into.
The latest example of this can be seen in the sudden proliferation of multivolume world history encyclopedias. Berkshire was really the first to publish a modern encyclopedia along these lines, with its 5-volume, 2500-page effort published in 2005. Their effort was obviously intended to be a print product all along, not just a cog in an electronic wheel. But I’m not so sure about some of the other titles that are forthcoming. Recently, I noticed that ABC-CLIO had a gigantic 21-volume world history set planned. I blogged about this too but got the publication date wrong; it’s April 2009, not April 2008. Now I see that Facts On File is coming out with its own multivolume effort: 7 volumes, 3200 pages, and available in October of this year.
Is it just me, or wouldn’t these publishers’ electronic databases be more attractive if they carried unique content rather than covering the same, well-trod ground? That’s not to say that these encyclopedias don’t offer intrinsic value in and of themselves. But one does wonder how it makes economic sense to go this route, and whether these bets will pay off in the end.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
[…] happen to agree with him about most of these items. I have previously blogged about the preponderance of multivolume world history encyclopedias that are cropping up lately. Obviously, the publishers have their own reasons for doing this, […]