Benj Edwards
These days, many people stay on-line, the place machine-generated content material has begun to pollute the Internet with misinformation and noise. At a time when it is onerous to know what info to belief, I felt delight when I just lately discovered that World Book still prints an up-to-date e-book encyclopedia in 2023. Although the time period “encyclopedia” is now virtually synonymous with Wikipedia, it is refreshing to see such a large reference printed on paper. So I bought one, and I’ll let you know why.
Based in Chicago, World Book, Inc. first printed an encyclopedia in 1917, and it has launched a brand new version virtually yearly since 1925. The firm, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, claims that its encyclopedia is “the only basic reference encyclopedia still printed right now.” My analysis appears to again up this declare; it is true even for different languages. Its fiercest competitor of yore, The Encyclopedia Britannica, ended its print run in 2012 after 244 years in print.
In a nod to our current digital age, World Book additionally presents its encyclopedia as a subscription service by way of the net. Yet it is the print model that mystifies and attracts my fascination. Why does it still exist?
“Because there may be still a requirement!” Tom Evans, World Book’s editor-in-chief, informed Ars over e mail.
Today, up-to-date info flows freely because of the Internet. It’s only a Google search away. Many individuals depend on Wikipedia, which is a nonprofit collaborative useful resource, for reference functions. Despite that, some individuals and organizations apparently still purchase paper encyclopedias. Evans mentioned that gross sales of the print version are “in the hundreds” and that World Book all the time prints just sufficient copies to fulfill demand.
Encyclopedia Britannica
A World Book rep informed Quartz in 2019 that the print encyclopedia offered principally to varsities, public libraries, and homeschooling households. Today, Evans says that public and college libraries are still the firm’s main clients. “World Book has a loyal following of librarians who perceive the significance of a basic reference encyclopedia in print type, accessible to all.”
As a child, our household owned a 1968 version of World Book that I relied on for varsity experiences and tasks all the approach till my highschool commencement in 1999, though I briefly used Microsoft Encarta on CD-ROM and a CompuServe encyclopedia in the Nineties. At the time, even with digital references, instantaneous, up-to-date info did not appear as necessary. We have been still largely working at the pace of paper. While that idea appears overseas to us in our present world, there was a sure form of consolation in that slowness.
Speaking of gradual, a paper encyclopedia set actually cannot run away from you. Back in the day, our household’s encyclopedia set took up a big devoted shelf in our household room. Just like my previous 1968 version, the new print version of World Book is a bodily hefty reference. The 2023 model spans 17,000 articles unfold over 14,000 pages in 22 volumes. The firm says it options over 25,000 images, illustrations, diagrams, and maps.
All this paper-bound content material cannot probably come low-cost, you may suppose. And, in fact, you are proper. At a time when most info involves us without cost on-line (with strings hooked up, in fact), it is simple to have sticker shock at the $1,199 retail worth for the 2023 version of World Book, though consumers may sometimes discover it for as little as $799 on Amazon (to match, the on-line subscription prices $250 per 12 months). Earlier editions can be found for a lot decrease costs.
I know it might appear bizarre to choose the print version since you will get the identical content material in the on-line model in a space-saving and moveable format. But with the paper model, the World Book will all the time be yours. It cannot be edited stealthily or taken down if the firm wants the server area or goes out of enterprise.
So I took the plunge.