These eminent authorities notwithstanding, I defer again to Bill Katz, librarian, professor, and author, for his judgment concerning the most accepted and useful recommendations. According to Katz, the top three reference titles are the Statistical Abstract of the United States, World Almanac, and the World Book Encyclopedia.4 These three titles, along with the Merck Manual, were the hottest in large and small libraries according to the results of a year-long survey reported in Booklist. Librarians who responded to Mary Ellen Quinn’s questionnaire said they based their choices on a preference for what is accessible, authoritative, current, and even enjoyable.5 If free Web versions of these popular print reference
sources could be located on the Web, we’d save money and, most likely, access the information in a more flexible, value-added format.
The Statistical Abstract of the United States
Individuals may add the entire text and tables of The Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2001(which retails in print format for about $38) to their desktops for free by downloading Adobe Acrobat documents from the United States Census Bureau at http://www.census.gov/statab/www. But you don’t have to download all of it—if specific tables satisfy your needs, you do not need to spend an excessive amount of time storing superflu- ous information. If, for example, the tables covering
“Construction and Housing” interest you, it takes only a couple of minutes to download the approximately 45 tables to your hard drive. Or you can download only the index, which takes two min- utes, and then return to the site to download specific tables when needed.
Almanacs
While the World Almanac and Book of Factsenjoys wide popu- larity, some people prefer to use one of many other similar publica- tions. Reputable publishers such as the New York Times and Information Pleasemake new almanacs available every December, costing $9–$13. Although theNew York Timesdoes not put any part of its almanac on the Web, Information Pleasedoes. In fact, if you know where to look, you will find parts of the Old Farmer’s Almanac (http://www.almanac.com), the African American Almanac(http://
www.toptags.com/aama), and the World Almanac for Kids(http://
www.worldalmanacforkids.com).
Péter Jacsó, professor and chairperson at the School of Library and Information Science at the University of Hawaii has reviewed the Infoplease Web site: “[The] Information Please Almanac (http://www.infoplease.com) is part of the new Infoplease free Web site of Information Please LLC that includes other IPA editions for
sports and entertainment, plus additional sources such as the Infoplease Dictionary and the Columbia Encyclopedia. The coun- try profiles are excellent, and many of the worldwide statistical tables are the most current you can get. Infoplease was smart enough to use the very good public domain maps of the CIA instead of paying royalties for someone else’s high-quality maps.
You cannot create customized charts and tables, but the sources are free-text searchable, a feature likely to bring up relevant arti- cles (along with some irrelevant ones). All in all, this source is def- initely a pick for its many assets.”6
The Infoplease home page links to the almanac’s index.
Because the Web site uses the same section headings that appear in the print almanac, it is easy to locate information in the 180 entries that lead to text, tables, and/or images. Not only does the site offer the general, sports, and entertainment almanacs, a dic- tionary, and an encyclopedia (as Jacsó stated), it also offers an atlas. Not bad for free.
General Encyclopedias
In 2002 the World Book Encyclopediacomprised 22 volumes and retailed for about $950. It is also available on compact disc for about $20. An annual subscription to the value-added World Book Online Web site (http://www.worldbookonline.com) costs $49.95.
Article length varies from a paragraph to several pages and most have links to other articles. A number of free Web sites provide encyclopedias including Encyclopedia.com offered by eLibrary (which also provides subscription reference resources), the Columbia Encyclopedia at http://www.bartleby.com/65, and “Free Internet Encyclopedia” at http://www.cam-info.net/enc.html.
Most of the free encyclopedias tend to have brief articles, but some of the services have appropriately long articles complete with links similar to those you’d pay for at the World Book site.
Encarta Online Concise Encyclopedia
The Microsoft Network offers free encyclopedia information at http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/artcenter.aspx.
In terms of factors on which to base a comparison among the free and fee encyclopedias, Encarta Online Concise might not score many points. But when judging resources, a major criterion applied by librarians is authority—who produces the resource and what are the producer’s credentials. Although the free Encarta pro- duced no results on a keyword query for “Kandahar,” the
“Industrial Revolution” search yielded a three-page article with links to related items as well as images and sounds—all free.
Moreover, I was very pleasantly surprised to find the article signed by a library director with a doctorate. Encarta scores high on the criterion of authority.
Although the free Encarta Concise site is undoubtedly an appe- tizer to gain customers for the Encarta Encyclopedia Standard (one compact disc: $19.95) and Encarta Online Deluxe Encyclopedia (three discs: $29.95), it is also a good, free resource, and it should occupy a link in the Web Library.
Britannica Concise
Yahoo! hosts this free resource containing 25,000 alphabetical entries at http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia.
The articles I looked at, on 10 sample topics, ran between 90 and 600 words. Unfortunately, cross references are not linked to other related articles, and “see also” references to related articles were rare. In another Britannica Concise review, Dr. Jacsó stated: “The longest article is probably the main entry about the United States at 840 words. Remember, however, that the number of articles is not a decisive criterion in comparing encyclopedias. Where Britannica Concise Encyclopedia(BCE) really shines is with the substantial def- initions of many words and names. These are longer than the ones in the comparable encyclopedias and BCEhas definitions for terms
which do not even occur in other concise encyclopedias, let alone as main entries.”
The illustration index at http://education.yahoo.com/reference/
encyclopedia/illustrations is very handy for locating graphics, though the majority are in black-and-white. It is searchable and browsable by alphabetic range. The illustrations also accompany the appropriate articles, but you should use the index to find a graphic when needed.
Columbia Encyclopedia
The sixth edition of the Columbia Encyclopediabecame available in 2000. With a list price of $125, it is a comprehensive one-volume work containing 3,156 pages. It also occupies three inches of shelf space. You can access the same information for free at Bartelby.com (http://www.bartleby.com/65). An article on Kandahar ran 316 words and also contained links to other Columbia Encyclopedia articles. Similarly the “Industrial Revolution” is handled in a con- cise manner. The encyclopedia contains a browsable index to its 51,000+ entries. As Dr. Jacsó stated in one of his reviews, “The printed version of the 5th edition has been my primary print refer- ence for many years, although it was not a desk reference as its sheer size made me put it back to the shelf after each use.
Indirectly, this was also a workout given the weight of the tome. I will need to find some other exercise now that this excellent source is at my fingertips on the Web.”7
Encyclopedia.com
Also intended to whet the appetite of searchers for more infor- mation, Encyclopedia.com is a free resource offered by the eLibrary.com commercial reference provider (http://www.encyclo pedia.com). Encyclopedia.com is based on the Columbia Encyclo- pedia. Upon searching a topic, the user will retrieve brief articles (including links to more specific free information within the article), but the site also entices users by offering magazine, newspaper,
radio, television, and journal articles/transcripts and images, which only eLibrary subscribers can view. Not that subscribing to the eLibrary service is such a terrible idea at $79.95 per year.
What can you expect for free at Encyclopedia.com? A search on the keyword “Kandahar” retrieved a 398-word article about the Afghan city. The article included six links to related free informa- tion. Premium (subscription) content listings appeared in the sidebar below the basic article.
A search on the Industrial Revolution retrieved a main article, again brief, and five brief subsections including a bibliography.
Related Premium content was offered as well. While not a compre- hensive source, Encyclopedia.com is worth bookmarking or mak- ing a “Favorite.”
The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy
TheMerck Manualis an incomparable compendium of infor- mation for physicians, patients, and the general public. It has been in publication for over 100 years and is available in 14 languages.
Three hundred experts collaborate on the production of this resource that covers all but the most obscure disorders. “In addi- tion to describing symptoms, common clinical procedures, labo- ratory tests, and virtually all the disorders that a general internist might encounter, the Manualdeals with problems of pregnancy and delivery; common and serious disorders of neonates, infants, and children; genetics; drug dependency; psychiatric disorders;
and many disorders covered by other specialties. The Manualalso contains information about special circumstances, such as dental emergencies, reactions and injuries caused by radiation exposure, and problems encountered in deep-sea diving. Current therapy is presented for each disorder and supplemented with a separate section on clinical pharmacology.”8
A frequently used reference book, the 17th Centennial edition is available at most bookstores for approximately $35 (or on CD-ROM
for $90 with illustrations and $35 without). The entire book may be downloaded for $79.95. Or it may be searched/browsed free at Merck’s Web site. The Centennial edition appears at http://www.
merck.com/pubs/mmanual and includes extensive linking to related text and images.
In 1998 Merck began to reach a broader audience when it pub- lished theMerck Manual of Medical Information, Home Edition, a freely accessible text version available at http://www.merck.com/
pubs/mmanual_home/contents.htm. An enhanced interactive edition of this book, with animations, photos, sound, tables, videos, sidebars, and illustrations, is freely accessible online at http://www.merckhomeedition.com/home.html.