On 14 March 2012 00:22, phoebe ayers <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't use it in print, haven't for years, and have been expecting > something like this for a while, but am still surprisingly saddened by > it too; there's something about the shelf of volumes that encapsulates > the world's knowledge that sort of symbolizes the whole idea of a > library to me. > > I've been asked to write a short editorial about this development from > a Wikipedian's perspective and am curious about (and would love to > include) other Wikimedian experiences -- did you use print > encyclopedias as a kid? Was a love of print encyclopedias part of your > motivation or interest in becoming a Wikipedian? Is there any value in > them still? Will you miss it? >
Anecdotal data point: as a kid, I was a reference book nut, although never had a decent encyclopedia. My parents bought me a copy of the Guinness encyclopedia, a colourful one-volume title. 'Twas amazing, but very stubby. Philosophy got all of four pages, as did Christianity, the death penalty got half a page, and human rights got a whole page. 20th century theatre got a whole two pages, and 20th century cinema got the next two pages. The best bit was the scientific diagrams: really detailed, colourful drawings of car engines and different types of nuclear reactor. Thematic organisation was definitely one of the benefits of the encyclopedia: it started with 'The Universe' and described cosmology and the Big Bang and stars, and then moved on to the Earth and geology and volcanoes, and then trotted onto biology and medicine, detouring into economics, sociology and law, then onto engineering, then to religion and philosophy, then finally the arts: visual, musical and theatrical. I still keep it near my desk, but I have to admit, I usually grab my laptop or smartphone and go to Wikipedia or Wiktionary (even though my local library gives me Britannica access, and my university library gives me OED access - all the logging-in faff isn't worth it). -- Tom Morris <http://tommorris.org/> _______________________________________________ WikiEN-l mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
