GET INVOLVED 1N UFO Our Unique Family Education Program V V A A Friendship Circles for All Ages A Commitment to Tradition join OUR Family ar OUR ice CReam Social Tuesday, August 23 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm 6800 DRake Rd. Congregation • B nai Mos Rabbi ellior PachteR CantoR Louis Klein Svccon emeRtrus Sha(om Ra(ph 788-0600 6800 DRake Rd., West. Bloomfield, C01, 48322 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.