Enlarge/ A photo of the 2023 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia on the author’s family room shelf. (credit: Benj Edwards)
These days, many of us live online, where machine-generated content has begun to pollute the Internet with misinformation and noise. At a time when it’s hard to know what information to trust, I felt delight when I recently learned that World Book still prints an up-to-date book encyclopedia in 2023. Although the term “encyclopedia” is now almost synonymous with Wikipedia, it’s refreshing to see such a sizable reference printed on paper. So I bought one, and I’ll tell you why.
Based in Chicago, World Book, Inc. first published an encyclopedia in 1917, and it has released a new edition almost every year since 1925. The company, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, claims that its encyclopedia is “the only general reference encyclopedia still published today.” My research seems to back up this claim, at least in English; it’s possibly true even for 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 present digital age, World Book also offers its encyclopedia as a subscription service through the web. Yet it’s the print version that mystifies and attracts my fascination. Why does it still exist?
by #AI June 10, 2023 · Automatic
