Also posted at HNN/REVISE AND DISSENT:
At Powells bookstore in Chicago, I saw a new Encyclopedia of India edited by eminient South Asian historian Stanley Wolpert. It’s an impressive four volume work, with 580 essays on the history, culture, economy and politics of the Indian subcontinent. Over two hundred scholars have contributed to this international projects.
Despite its obvious usefulness and the good reviews it has gotten, I couldn’t but help wonder whether print is the right format for an encyclopedic work of this nature. I like printed books as much as anyone else. I am devoted to writing printed books. But still I cling to the belief that print is no longer suited for publishing encyclopedias. There is a finality to a printed volume that doesn’t make sense any more. I am sure there is a market among institutional buyers for a work such as this but shouldn’t this be a digital archive, which can be periodically updated?
Shouldn’t Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy be the model for all such projects in the twenty first century? In the past, the backing of big publishers was essentially for a project such as this but is that the case now?
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