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Draft:Outline of encyclopedias

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to encyclopedias:

An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopaedia (British English) (from Greek ἐγκύκλιος παιδεία meaning 'general education') is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name or by thematic categories, or else are hyperlinked and searchable. Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries. Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on factual information concerning the subject named in the article's title; this is unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, such as their etymology, meaning, pronunciation, use, and grammatical forms.

What type of thing is an encyclopedia?

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An encyclopedia can be described as all of the following:

  • Compendium – concise, yet comprehensive compilation of a body of knowledge. A general encyclopedia can be referred to as a compendium of all human knowledge.
  • Publication
  • Reference work

Types of encyclopedias

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Types of encyclopedias, by scope

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Types of encyclopedias, by media employed

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Encyclopedias are distributed in the form of:

Specific encyclopedias

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History of encyclopedias

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History of encyclopedias

Former encyclopedias

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Former online encyclopedias

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Former printed encyclopedias

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History of relevant technologies

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Persons influential in encyclopedias

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Encyclopedist – person who writes, edits, or compiles an encyclopedia. Some influential encyclopedists include:

  • Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC – 27 BC) –
  • Pliny the Elder (23 AD – August 25, 79 AD) –
  • Martianus Capella (4th and 5th centuries AD) – Latin prose writer of Late Antiquity, from Apuleius—in the Roman province of Africa. He authored the encyclopedic work De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii. The work was read, taught, and commented upon throughout the early Middle Ages and shaped European education during the early medieval period and the Carolingian renaissance.
  • Mortimer J. Adler (December 28, 1902 – June 28, 2001) – director of editorial planning for the 15th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, and designer of the Outline of Knowledge presented in its Propædia volume.
  • Larry Sanger (July 16, 1968 – ) – co-founder of Wikipedia, and the founder of Citizendium.
  • Jimmy Wales (August 7, 1966 – )– co-founder of and spokesman for Wikipedia.

See also

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References

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