Evaluation of Encyclopaedia by Mahendra Prasad Adhikari from TU Central Department of Library and information science, Nepal

1. Evaluation of Encyclopaedia
of Britannica

3. Bibliographical Reference
1. Title: New Encyclopaedia Britannica
2. Editor: Dale Hoiberg
3. Publisher: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
4. Place of Publication: Chicago(USA)
5. Language: English
6. First ed.: 1768-1771
7. Latest ed.(15th ed.): 1985 with 30 Vol
8. Latest Global ed.(15th ed.): 2010 with 32 Vol (General type)
9. Pages: Latest ed.(15th ed.): 32640 pages
10. Publication type: Printed with hard bound, CD-ROM(1989) with
premium, Interner/Online(1994)

4. Authority
1. The first edition of Encyclopaedia Britannica was published in 1768-1771
in 3 volumes. The fourteenth edition published in 1929 was revised and
reorganised till 1973.
2. In 1974, the fifteenth edition was published as the "New Encyclopaedia
Britannica'' consisting of thirty volumes.
3. It has three parts. A calendar indicating special events and occasions of
the year 1988. Includes Britannica update that states major revisions from
the 1988.
4. It was written by about 100 full-time editor an editorial staff of hundreds,
an advisory staff of more than 200, more than 4,000 contributors include
distinguished Arthur Koestler, A.J. Toynbee, and Robert Nisbet.

5. 5. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, which spans 32 volumes and
32,640 pages, the last printed edition.
6. Encyclopedia of Britannica is one of the most popular encyclopedia
of western countries, and this is general encyclopedia covering all
the existing branches of human knowledge. It is most popular and
extensively used reference source of libraries.
7. The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopaedia that
was in print for the longest time: it lasted 244 years.
8. It has three part Propaedia and Micropaedia introduced in 1974
with the 15th edition.

6. 9. The name comes from the word “micro” and “encyclopaedia”. Micro means
small (little as a dictionary) type of information.
10. Macropaedia is the Third part of the encyclopaedia. hart is a type of diagram
that represents a workflow or process. A flowchart can also be defined as a
diagrammatic representation of an algorithm, a step-by-step approach to
solving a task.
11. The flowchart shows the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by
connecting the boxes with arrows.
12. It provides timely, relevant and trustworthy information and instructional
products for homes, schools, universities, libraries and workplaces around the
world.

7. • The Encyclopaedia Britannica has long enjoyed a reputation for high standards; in
one respect, the recent new edition falls disappointingly short of the quality of
previous editions
• It has international approach and universal coverage.
• Encyclopedia Britannica cover topics on Animals, Art, Astronomy, Science,
Chemistry, Countries of World, Earth, Government, Law, Politics, Health, History,
Life, Biosphere, Literature, Math, Religion, Sports, Recreation Technology.
• An encyclopaedia is a set of books with articles on every topic.
• Each article in the encyclopaedia gives you information about the topic.
• Guide words on used in an encyclopaedia to help you find information.
Scope

8. • An encyclopaedia has the topics in alphabetical order.
• General English Language Encyclopaedia that is regarded as the most
scholarly of encyclopaedias throughout the world.
• Propaedia, a guide to the set, gives outline of knowledge and is a
schematic introduction to articles in Macropaedia.
• Micropaedia a study guide contains brief information for ready reference and
acts as a detailed index to the set by giving volume and page reference to articles
in the Macropaedia. Cross references are freely given throughout the 10 volumes.
Users needing broader details can refer to Micropaedia and save time whereas
those who want minute facts can refer to Macropaeida to get elaborate
information.
…Contd from Scope

9. … contd from Scope
• In Macropaedia containing knowledge in depth has lengthy articles. It
covers major topics of human interest and is intended to educate the
serious readers. They are written by well-known experts and include
selective and annotated bibliographies. It has international approach
and universal coverage. Since 1938, every year 'Britannica Book of the
Year' is published to update the information and it also follows policy
of continuous revision.

10. Arrangement:
• This has a unique 4 part structure Part 1: Propaedia, or outline of
knowledge, Part 2: 01- 12 Micropaedia of short articles, Part 3: 13- 29
Macropaedia of long articles and Part 4: index
The new edition was criticized for not providing an index to set, hence it
print 1985, a two volume index was also published making it a set 32
volume. Every pages divided into two column of all volume.
• Propaedia : 1 Volume
• Micropaedia : 12 Volume
• Macropaedia : 17 Volume
• Index : 2 Volume
• Book of the year

11. Index-2,Propaedia-1,Micropadia-1-12 = 12 vol.,
Macropadia-13-29=17 vol., Book of the year-1

12. • Index is prepared for the same reason that roads and signposts are
planned and built in an unfamiliar country.
• First consulting the Index, Encyclopaedia Britannica can be used to
greatest advantage, because it is very vast.
• To find all that material, the researcher must go to the Index, where,
under the entry heading “United Kingdom”, he will find not only the
reference to the main article but also about 1000 references too
many related articles throughout the 29 text volumes of Britannica.
• All the references in the entry show the volume, page number,
column of the page, and a letter “a” or “b” indicating the upper or
lower half of the column.
• For example, 1:485:3b points to the MICROPAEDIA Volume 1, page
485, the third column of the page, and the lower half of that column.

13. • INDEX has thousands of cross-references. Cross-reference entries for
alternative spelling. It allow the reader to gain access to more specific
information. Eg: See also References are freely given throughout the
10 volumes. Users needing broader details can refer to Micropaedia
and save time whereas those who want minute facts can refer to
Macropaeida to get elaborate information.

14. Alphabetization
• Word by word system of alphabetization.
• Hyphenated words [-] are treated as two separate words, the hyphen
or dash being treated as a space.
• Quotation marks that appear in titles of works are generally ignored
and the entry heading without quotation mark is placed first.
• Entry heading whose first characters are numerals are alphabetize as
though the numbers were spelt out. Eg: 1812, war of – Eighteen
twelve, war of.

15. Treatment:
• This has a unique 3 part structure Part 1: Propaedia, or outline of
knowledge Part 2: 01- 12 Micropaedia of short articles, Part 3: 13- 29
Macropaedia of long articles.
• Arrange multi-volume and set with index.
• Micropaedia is arranged alphabetically.
• It Contains 12 volumes.
• Intended primarily for quick fact-checking, ready reference and act as a
guide to the Macropaedia.
• It contains tens of thousands of shorter articles on specific persons, places,
things and ideas.
• It serves students who wish to learn a field in depth or details for
comparison.

16. … contd from Treatment
• Macropaedia Contains 17 volumes & 4207 articles. Arranged alphabetically.
• It has articles that are very detailed but each article is usually about a large topic
• People use Micropaedia to know just a little, but the Macropaedia is used to
know in detail.
• The core of the Propædia is its Outline of Knowledge, which seeks to provide a
logical framework for all human knowledge.
• It also has several appendices listing the staff members, advisors and contributors
to all three parts of the Britannica.
• It seeks to provide a systematic, strictly hierarchical categorization of all possible
human knowledge.
• They are written by well-known experts and include selective and annotated
bibliographies. It has international approach and universal coverage.

17. Special Feature:
• "New Encyclopaedia Britannica'' consisting of thirty volumes. It has
three parts.
• Propaedia - 1 volume
• Micropaedia –(1-10) volumes
• Macropaeida – (11-29) volumes
• It is the oldest English – language encyclopaedia still in print.
• The aim of this is to educated adults and it is written by about 100 full
time editors and as of 2008, 4411 named expert contributors.

18. • Book of the year.
• Standard and high quality of banding structure and its inner and outer
finishing also loveable with equal size.
• To find all that material, the researcher must go to the Index, where,
under the entry heading “United Kingdom”, he will find not only the
reference to the main article but also about 1000 references too
many related articles throughout the 29 text volumes of Britannica.
• Index has thousands of cross-references. Cross-reference entries for
alternative spelling. It allow the reader to gain access to more specific
information. Eg: See also

19. CD-ROM feature
• The Index to the 1999 set comes in two volumes. CD-ROM and online
versions are also available and purchasers can also buy Britannica
Book of the Year separately.

20. Online feature
• Britannica Online, the Web version of New Encyclopaedia Britannica,
maintains the high standards that are the hallmark of the print
version and arguments what is available in the print edition. Using a
Netscape Windows format, Britannica Online contains over 72,000
entries, a wealth of graphics, images, tables, and figures, along with a
powerful Boolean-based search engine that can be readily used by
novice or advanced searchers Britannica Online also differs from the
print version in terms of different type of new features offered.

21. Limitation:
• It is difficult to record maintain the Encyclopaedia volumes were also re-
numbered. Due to high cost cannot purchase small type of library or
personally.
• Guide words on used in an encyclopaedia to help you find information.
• This has a unique 3 part structure which are co-related.
• Without first consulting the Index, Encyclopaedia Britannica cannot be
used to greatest advantage, because it is very vast.
• All the references in the entry show the volume, page number, column of
the page, and a letter “a” or “b” indicating the upper or lower half of the
column
• For example, 1:485:3b points to the MICROPAEDIA Volume 1, page 485, the
third column of the page, and the lower half of that column.
• Index has thousands of cross-references. Cross-reference entries for
alternative spelling. It allow the reader to gain access to more specific
information. Eg: See also