Hi All, At the convention there was a representative from Thomson Gale. I expressed that I was sorry that they didn't include an 100 year calender in the new edition. I was emailed by them by the day after the conference was over with their reasoning for why they did this. I suggest that instead of simply listing your complaints on Hasafran you write to them with your issues with the new edition. In case you are interested here is my correspondance with them.
Sincerely, Joel Tuchman Sinai Temple Blumenthal Library, Los Angeles [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hello, as promised at the AJL conference, here is Thomson-Gale's response to your question about the 100yr calendar: The second edition of the Encyclopaedia Judaica was developed in full knowledge of the Internet and its vast resources for scholarship and learning. The decision not to include the perpetual Jewish calendar in the new work was made in view of the widespread availability of such calendars on the Web, and the likelihood that students, scholars, and lay readers would turn to them first. It was thought more beneficial to devote the space to additional text and such new features as the EJ2 Synoptic Outline. In all cases our responsibility was to provide the reader with material unique to the Judaica. We sincerely hope that you will agree with us that what was gained outweighs what was lost by the elimination of the calendar. Thank you for writing me back so promptly, I respectfully disagree with your decision to not include the calender in this new edition for a number of reasons. First of all, the internet could be down. Secondly, I don't like the idea of a hard print encyclopedia relying on the internet for people to retrieve information. Thirdly, and most importantly, there are a lot of sites on the internet in which the calender is WRONG. As a reference librarian, I am concerned that if someone chooses to look up the information, especially about something as important as a calender, that they would get the wrong information. When I used the calender in EJ1 I knew the information was accurate. Maybe you could print a supplement or something with the calender in it. Mr. Tuchman, You have valid concerns and I just forwarded your comments and suggestion about a supplement to the publisher for EJ here at Gale. We are constantly soliciting feedback about current and potential product enhancements, so I thank you for your input. Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
