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Go easy on your heart and start cutting back on foods
that are high in saturated fat and cholesterol. The
change'll do you good.
At
P28
,
V American Heart Association
WE'RE FIGHTING FOR YOUR LIFE
Moshe
ENCYCLOPEDIA page P27
turn to the encyclopedias for
your own pleasure. Remember
that as a role model yours is a
powerful influence. The set's ap-
peal to you should weigh heavily
in your choice: an unused set will
seem overpriced, regardless of
cost.
Finally, consider actually read-
ing the same topic in two or three
different encyclopedias. Then ask
yourself: was it interesting to
read? Did I understand it? Was
the vocabulary too advanced or
so simplistic that your offspring
would outgrow it soon? Could
your eyes comfortably follow the
text? Did the charts or illustra-
tions make sense and add sub-
stantially to the meaning of the
essay?
Ultimately, if your reading
whets your interest, or broadens
your understanding, it is likely
to become a valuable resource
your children will use increas-
ingly as they mature.
To take your hands-on re-
search one step further, consider
going with your children as they
research a paper. This will help
you gauge which set they cur-
rently find most useful. Observe
which encyclopedia choice the
older students are making. Are
there clues that your children
have outgrown your initial
choice?
Think long term, but realize
that even a fine set of encyclope-
dias has limitations. In fact, re-
spected teachers typically insist
that a student use more than one
source.
glected accomplished minorities.
In the interpretation of things,
such as the inclusion of minori-
ties, there can be a great dispar-
ity," Dollisch notes.
Britannica's editor in chief
Robert McHenry acknowledges
the downside and inevitability of
obsolescence, even in areas of in-
quiry one might not consider
volatile. "To look up and read the
life of Shakespeare, the (older)
encyclopedia is probably pretty
good. Or Rembrandt ... but there
has been so much done recently
in judging the attribution of
paintings formerly thought to be
Rembrandts ... So scholarship is
forever changing. To read a sci-
ence article on computers, for
example, in a 5-year-old ency-
clopedia is dangerous."
Books Still Appeal
For home use, books have jus-
tifiable appeal. Children and
teens have a way of needing
to do reports that are due to-
morrow morning, and the library
is already closed. Or someone
asks a question, and rather than (
taking a stab at the answer, the
literate family will often look it
up in the encyclopedia. The
home library as a resource is not
extinct, nor will it become so,
most educators and parents
agree.
In a visually-oriented society
such as ours, the animation and
interactive possibilities afford-
ed by certain disk versions of en-
cyclopedias has tremendous
appeal (see sidebar).
But keep in mind that book
versions of encyclopedias typi-
To Buy Or Not?
To buy or not to buy? Even if cally provide 10 times the
you entered this process con- number of illustrations; fur-
vinced that you ought to buy en- thermore, these are larger and
cyclopedias, you may want to superior graphically and artis-
consider several cogent argu- tically. And few educators, par-
ments against such an expendi- ents, or researchers deny the
ture. One legitimate concern is value of well-researched and
that your encyclopedia's infor- deftly created visuals as a learn-
ing aid: maps and charts, even
mation will become outdated.
Every major encyclopedia pub- photographs succinctly convey
lishing house addresses this prob- information that would other-
lem by offering an update volume wise be difficult or cumbersome
each year, available for an addi- to provide.
There is, moreover, the tactile
tional fee, typically around $99.
(Even though it is published an- pleasure of turning pages,
nually, many opt to buy it every perusing the page, allowing the
two years.) Ask yourself if your eye to settle on content that ap-
commitment to the encyclopedia peals, discovering unexpected
purchase is strong enough to con- interests just browsing through
tinue to the expense of ongoing a volume.
Books are portable, allowing
updates.
Obviously, rushing out to buy a student to take a volume to a
a set for your first-born infant, kitchen table or sofa, a reading
and expecting the volumes to be chair or a private, quiet area.
Finally, many families opt for
useful for major research efforts
when the last child enters college the home encyclopedia set out of
a belief that books are the
is probably unrealistic.
bedrock of the process of "learn-
Obsolescent Content
ing how to learn," and that reg-
Patricia Dollisch, a librarian ularly looking things up in books
in Atlanta, feels that an outdat- (including but not limited to en-
ed encyclopedia will not ac- cyclopedias) is an excellent habit
knowledge important new trends in the lifetime process of self-ed-
in the treatment of historical mat- ucation. CI
ters.
"For example, a guide to fa- Anne Justice Allen is a free-lance
mous Americans might have ne- writer from Atlanta.