1. What is a brief history of the encyclopedia?
"The oldest English-language general encyclopaedia." The Encyclopædia Britannica has been published since 1768, when its "first edition began to appear in Edinburgh, Scotland."
2. What are some key features of that encyclopedia?
a) according to Wikipedia
"Four major elements define an encyclopaedia: its subject matter, its scope, its method of organization, and its method of production:
Encyclopaedias can be general, containing articles on topics in every field (the English-language Encyclopædia Britannica and German Brockhaus are well-known examples). General encyclopaedias often contain guides on how to do a variety of things, as well as embedded dictionaries and gazetteers. There are also encyclopaedias that cover a wide variety of topics but from a particular cultural, ethnic, or national perspective, such as the Great Soviet Encyclopedia or Encyclopaedia Judaica.
Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated knowledge for their subject domain, such as an encyclopaedia of medicine, philosophy, or law. Works vary in the breadth of material and the depth of discussion, depending on the target audience. (For example, the Medical encyclopaedia produced by A.D.A.M., Inc. for the U.S. National Institutes of Health.)
Some systematic method of organization is essential to making an encyclopaedia usable as a work of reference. There have historically been two main methods of organizing printed encyclopaedias: the alphabetical method (consisting of a number of separate articles, organised in alphabetical order), or organization by hierarchical categories. The former method is today the most common by far, especially for general works. The fluidity of electronic media, however, allows new possibilities for multiple methods of organization of the same content. Further, electronic media offer previously unimaginable capabilities for search, indexing and cross reference. The epigraph from Horace on the title page of the 18th century Encyclopédie suggests the importance of the structure of an encyclopaedia: "What grace may be added to commonplace matters by the power of order and connection."
As modern multimedia and the information age have evolved, they have had an ever-increasing effect on the collection, verification, summation, and presentation of information of all kinds. Projects such as Everything2, Encarta, h2g2, and Wikipedia are examples of new forms of the encyclopaedia as information retrieval becomes simpler. More specifically, Wikipedia has received acclaim for its scholarly nature, succinctness, verifiability, accuracy, and neutrality.[citation needed] "
(source from:"encyclopedia",wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia)
b) according to Encyclopedia Brittannica
First edition
"The Encyclopædia Britannica; or, A Dictionary of Arts and Sciences was conceived by two printers, Andrew Bell and Colin Macfarquhar, and edited chiefly by the printer and antiquary William Smellie. It was printed and published in Edinburgh. The work's merit and novelty consisted, on the one hand, in its consolidation of important subjects into lengthy, comprehensive treatises and, on the other, in facilitating reference by the inclusion of many shorter, dictionary-type articles on technical terms and other subjects. "
Second edition
"The second edition was a much more ambitious work in both length and scope, its 10 volumes totaling 8,595 pages and appearing in parts from 1777 to 1784.The scope of the second edition was enlarged beyond that of a “dictionary of arts and sciences” by the inclusion of biographical articles and the expansion of geographic articles to include history. The editor was James Tytler (c. 1747–1804). "
Third edition
"The third edition was still longer, appearing in parts forming 18 volumes of 14,579 pages (1788–97). The fresh, energetic prose of the third edition and supplement proved to be engaging as well as informative and greatly helped to establish Britannica's lasting reputation. "
Fourth edition
"The fourth edition appeared from 1801 to 1809 and, when completed, was bound in 20 volumes totaling 16,033 pages and dated 1810. The editor, James Millar (1762–1827), an Edinburgh physician and natural scientist, took pains to repair the omissions and other deficiencies caused in the third edition by the death of Macfarquhar in midcareer. "
Fifth and sixth editions and supplement to the fourth, fifth, and sixth editions
"The fifth edition (edited successively by Bonar and Millar) was a corrected reprint of the fourth, and the sixth (edited by Charles Maclaren) was a reprint of the fifth with some articles brought up to date. Meanwhile, Archibald Constable, an enterprising Edinburgh publisher, had bought the copyright of Britannica from Bell's and Bonar's heirs "
Seventh edition
"Constable's firm went bankrupt in 1826, and Constable himself died the following year. An extra volume provided the useful innovation of a general index, which became a standard feature of further editions. "
Eighth edition
"The eighth edition, in 21 volumes with an extra index volume, contained a total of 17,957 pages and 402 plates and appeared from 1852 to 1860. Although retaining articles from older editions, the eighth edition was very thoroughly revised. "
Ninth edition
"The 24 volumes and index volume of the ninth edition—one of the greatest—appeared one by one between 1875 and 1889.Ownership of the Encyclopædia Britannica passed permanently to the United States when the American publisher Horace E. Hooper, along with another publisher, Walter M. Jackson, purchased the Britannica outright from Adam and Charles Black in 1901. "
10th edition
"The 10th edition (1902–03) was published under the sponsorship of The Times of London. "
11th edition
"The 11th edition took over and revised many articles from the 9th and 10th editions. In addition there were many new entries, as well as new sections to earlier entries which covered history in greater detail. The rich, leisurely prose of the 11th edition marked the pinnacle of literary style in the Britannica. "
12th and 13th editions
"In 1922 three supplementary volumes prepared under the editorial direction of Chisholm in London and Franklin Hooper in New York City were added to the 29 volumes of the 11th edition, which then became the 12th edition. "
14th edition
"In 1928 Sears, Roebuck bought back the Britannica, retaining Cox as publisher to put out a revised edition of the now badly out-of-date 11th edition. "
3. Which encyclopedia was most useful for this research?
Wikipedia is more useful because it is more updated and easy to find information. As well as it is more well organize.
(source from:"encyclopedia", encyclopedia, http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9106030)
4. Can you trust this encyclopedia 100%? Why or why not?
No, we cannot trust it 100% because the information are not always true, the writers are not all explorers. And also, they will have their personal view include in their work.
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