Customer Reviews

The World Book Encyclopedia

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Even in the age of the internet, a good set of encyclopedias on a bookshelf adds dignity, depth and quality to a home library, and of all the encyclopedias available on the market, I have always found World Book to be the most readable, comprehensive and all-around best when it comes to being up-to-date. As far as reference material goes, World Book is more approachable than all its competitors and it imparts information without pedantic verbosity. I also love the illustrations and maps, many of which qualify in their own right as impressive works of art. World Book is a sheer joy to read and worth the investment.

It's hard to stop reading the World Book Encyclopedia. They're so jammed with thorough and timely information that you'll feel your brain bursting with new knowledge. I sat down one afternoon with a glass of milk and a bag of Oreos and before I knew it the sun had gone down and I was already reading about Zimbabwe.

IT'S THAT GOOD!

Please note that this is for the CD version of the encyclopedia. I couldn't find an Amazon listing for the multimedia version, so I thought I would make my comments here for the print set. The World Book is one of the four or five great 'pedias out there, and I have been very pleased with mine, so I thought I'd make a few comments and compare it with the other major sets since I have all of them and you might find my comments useful in picking out the best one for you.

First, the Britannica set is no doubt the most scholarly and technical of these, and many of the articles in technical subjects, such as modern epistemology and phenomenology, classical western and eastern philosophy, comparative linguistics and philology, mineralogy, petrology, and geomorphology, in which I've read a fair amount, are pitched at the advanced college level. In fact, 40% of the Britannica is devoted to science and it is definitely the strongest there. But the history articles are also very solid, along with the other areas of the humanties. The CD version contains 10,000 more articles than the print version, and there are 24,000 major articles in that, and 65,000 if you include the Britannica's shorter Ready Reference ones. However, no matter what Britannica says, this set is not appropriate to anyone under at least basic college level, and most of the articles read as if they were written to provide technical overviews for professionals who are working in the field, rather than for the average college student.

The World Book is consistently rated the best in terms of ease of use by professional librarians, and they prefer it to the Britannica. This is because the articles are written for the expected level of the reader, rather than like the Britannica's, which are all at the under or upper undergrad college level or higher. For example, the article on CATS will be easier than the one on PHYSICS. The World Book is very strong on history and biography and I would say that is its main strength. It has 17,000 articles, plus an extra 1800 in the CD version.

Grolier's puts out the Encyclopedia Americana as well as the New Book of Knowledge and the Grolier's Academic Encyclopedia. The New Book of Knowledge is also very good and Grolier's gives you that free as a bonus along with the Encyclopedia Americana (the online versions, that is) when you buy the Grolier's Encyclopedia. I like having all three so this is a very good deal for the price of one. Grolier's is a good, all-around reference tool and I like it as well. It is pitched at about the same level as the World Book, so it isn't quite as technical as the Britannica and would be useful as a family reference set in much the same way as the World Book.

Encarta has the most multimedia bells and whistles, and the best integrated atlas of the world, which is a truly wonderful atlas, much better than the ones included with the other encyclopedias here. It has the best interface and navigation and over 10 levels of magnification and detail for the maps. The others atlases aren't nearly as detailed or flexible. Encarta has been enhanced by Microsoft's acquisition of Collier's Encyclopedia, which contributed an extra 3000 articles to the current version, boosting the scholarly level quite a bit.

Encarta is good for both science and history, and the history articles for major countries such as China, Japan, Russia, England, and so on, range from 80 to 120 pages long, which is pretty impressive. The biographical articles on founding fathers such as Washington, Jefferson, Adams, and so on, range from 20 to over 30 pages, which is also pretty impressive.

The Oxford Encyclopedia is shorter that the above ones but has very concise and to the point articles on history topics that are excellent. A surprising find was the Simon and Schuster encyclopedia, which I was impressed with, and I would say is comparable to the Grolier's or World Book in level of difficulty and coverage.

Hope my little comparison guide helps. Happy encyclopedia buying and reading!

I am writing because you say that the World Book Encyclopedia is no longer available in BOOK form. But it is! Your information is incorrect! The 1999 edition is available as of the week of December 7,1998.

I bought a set of the World Book Encyclopaedia about 10 years ago, paying a huge sum of Rs.35,000 at that time. Later I found out that the local salesperson had cheated me, by telling me that a CD version was not available. Actually, the CD version is much cheaper, almost 1/20th the price, and easier to use. However, you don't get the same sense of satisfaction from the CD version.

These books are beautifully crafted (I have an edition bound in leather, and edged in gold) and are a joy to behold and refer to. They take up a lot of shelf space though, and it's a bit cumbersome to locate information, especially now that we are all so used to clicking across an ocean of cross-references. Nevertheless, there is a special charm to rummaging through these books, and I have spent many leisurely afternoons flipping through them. I have also picked up many useful items of information at times, for use in my work. The illustrations, and drawings are simply superb. The entries are written with a nice flow, neither too technical, nor too verbose. However, you must keep in mind that this product is primarily designed for school students, and may not be useful for any serious work.

The only worries that I have are about the reliability of information. For instance, I found that a river in Arunachal Pradesh (India) has been named wrongly, and the people of the region do not recognise the name at all. Similarly, in the entry related to Lord Shri Ram, worshipped by millions of Hindus, there is no mention that he is viewed as divinity by Hindus. This obviously raises doubts whether information related to other cultures or topics is also erroneous.

This kind of errors could be on account of the selection of biased writers (I saw Mr. K.N. Pannikar on the advisory board), or it could be on account of simple errors that anyone could make. Unfortunately, the problem is compounded by the non-responsive attitude of World Book editors. For instance, I wrote to them a couple of time on e-mail, pointing out these discrepancies, but there was no response.

Overall, a beautifully crafted product, one that you will love to own. I only wish that the information in between the binding was as reliable as the binding itself!

This seems to be a very good deal. I got what I expected and I appreciate the quick service. Doesn't get much better than that.

Excellent. Very highly recommended. This encyclopedia is very informative of people, places and things. This edition is equally up to date on World issues. This appears to be my second rating of this product.

The world book is one of the greatest pieces of literature ever written throughout the history of mankind. It is a thorough compelation of everything a person needs to know. I read the book everynight, and its deep characters and intense plots captivate my children. It is a great reference book for school work, and mere curiosity. My children love to delve in between the lines of text of the World Book. And their curiosity and desire to attain knowledge is well fed by the World Book. It is a great resource for anyone to have, and truly encourages children and adults alike to learn the most they can about the world around them

Among the many Encyclopedias in my Library, I would first refer to World Book coz this is the Best Reference Book I ever come across so handy. Apart from this, I possess Everyman's Encyclopedia, Hamlyn's Children Encyclopedia, Groliers & Microsoft Encarta CDs, Brittanica Encylopedia, Collier's two Books, Oxford and a couple of kids encylopedias. These are oceans of knowledge and great storehouse of information. Each have their own peculiarities and each encyclopedia for me is a prize collection when it comes to finding on specific topics and comparisons. For example, the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's info is missed out in World book but too informative in Microsoft Encarta. Whereas, World Book presents very good History and biography sections. Encarta has good sports, music and arts, etc section that I found interesting. Oxford and Collier's is quick easy glance for readers. Hamlyn's best for kids reference. I guess for people who are into research, students using for projects etc. should go for World Book Encylopedia, secondly sort for Microsoft Encarta CD - Rest all is ocean of knowledge, Enjoy!

I never received the item from the seller after I paid for the item. The seller never responded to any of my inquiries. I had to file a complaint.