Evaluation of encyclopaedias, Humanities

Assignment Help:

Evaluation of Encyclopaedias

A good and useful collection of general and special encyclopaedias form the backbone for the reference work in any library. The strong collection of general and special encyclopaedias in English and other languages ensure efficient reference service in a library. In this section, we will discuss various check points which can help in the selection and assessing the value of encyclopaedias before the acquisition for the library.

It is a very expensive venture to produce an authoritative set of encyclopaedia as it involves overall planning, engaging subject experts to write articles, competent indexers to provide layout artists, exhaustive index, and photographers for providing apt illustrations, accurate printing, efficient editorial and proof reading, adequate advertising through reviews in journals catalogues and announcement leaflets to booksellers, distributors, librarians etc. All these cannot be done cheaply. Reputed publishers recognise this fact by their experience in the field of publishing encyclopaedias and incur considerable expenditure to produce an authoritative work so as to earn the profit in turn. The prices of the authoritative sets of encyclopaedia are quite high, as the publishers have to meet with the expenses of high cost of production. Therefore the librarians have to make careful selection of the encyclopaedia and judicious expenditure depending upon the avail-ability of funds and space. Again, the librarian has also to consider the needs of the reader. They must be used intelligently to obtain the maximum benefit. It is not possible to make a perfect and complete encyclopaedia, as it is difficult to include all the existing information: Hence, the librarian should assess their value and find out their merits and demerits before acquiring them.

The main checkpoints for evaluating and analysing encyclopaedias are :

a) Authority

b) Scope and purpose

c) Treatment

d) Arrangement

e) Format

f) Revision

g) Limitation

h) Special features


Related Discussions:- Evaluation of encyclopaedias

Baroque art, I need a report on Baroque Art. Can you please assist me for B...

I need a report on Baroque Art. Can you please assist me for Baroque Art report for about 2500 words?

Statistical handbooks , Statistical Handbooks Statistical handbooks c...

Statistical Handbooks Statistical handbooks cover information regarding various aspects in numerical form. They are also produced by the Governments of different countries. T

American manners and habitus, The social arrangements of the Old South wer...

The social arrangements of the Old South were also associated with the prevalent code of ‘honour' (Wyatt-Brown 1984), and questions of honour were commonly settled by the du

Scientific activity, factors that determine the broad area of scientific ac...

factors that determine the broad area of scientific activity

Levels of description - data elements, Levels of Description   Even tho...

Levels of Description   Even though AACR-2 provides for the eight areas of description and for certain elements of information in each area, it is not necessary that every docu

Essay, i need help with organization

i need help with organization

Define compromise, Define Compromise?  In a negative sense it means to ...

Define Compromise?  In a negative sense it means to undetermined integrity by violating one's fundamental moral principles. In a positive sense, though, it means to settle diff

Define gender equality, Gender equality- Gender equality, it is also terme...

Gender equality- Gender equality, it is also termed as sexual equality or sex equality or equality of the genders that means which women and men should receive equivalent treatmen

Authority - evaluation of encyclopaedia, Authority The authoritiveness...

Authority The authoritiveness of an encyclopaedia can be judged by the reputation of the editor, consult-ants, contributors who are responsible for producing it. The reputatio

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd