It makes me a little sad to think that kids today probably have no idea what The Encyclopaedia Britannica is, much less The World Book.
I spent many happy childhood hours holed up with a volume or three of The World Book. I could study, say, the flags of the world for an entire afternoon.
(And yes, I do realize that this makes me a huge nerd. Still am.) I am pretty sure my parents still have our (now vintage) copy of the 1990 edition packed away in the basement storeroom somewhere.
I’m a big fan of the interwebs and all – don’t get me wrong – but there was something special about opening the a volume for the first time. It was the smell of the gold-edged pages; the crackling of the virgin binding; the silky feel of the thick, glossy paper beneath my fingers. Oooh! And remember when the words “See Also . . . “ were magical? Those two little words would send me into paroxysms of delight! I’d run off to the bookshelf to grab the other four volumes I needed in order to continue down the rabbit hole of knowledge. An article on "Creole" would inevitably be followed up with See Also: "France," "Louisiana Purchase," "New Orleans," "Canada," "Cuisine: French," and on and on. The possibilities? Endless!
Sites such as Wikipedia and RefDesk help to fill the hard-copy, heavy-tomed reference void. And if anything, they make following those rabbit holes much more efficient - everything's just a click away!
But . . . it's not quite the same, you know?
(Perhaps, freshly in my 29th year, I'm becoming more nostalgic for things past already? hahahaha)
When we moved my mom from her home of 31 years, we were at a loss as to what to do with her encyclopedias. They were more like the 1970's edition. I remember Jesse borrowing one book at a time and just pouring over it. I guess they were pretty fascinating at one time.
ReplyDelete