Editorial

Citation

Chalcraft, T. (2010), "Editorial", Reference Reviews, Vol. 24 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/rr.2010.09924daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Reference Reviews, Volume 24, Issue 4

Despite the risk of being considered repetitious, it is difficult not to begin this column by again commenting on the current reference publishing focus on China and global warming. A new offering on the latter topic is The Encyclopedia of Global Warming Science and Technology (RR 2010/175) from Greenwood. More modest in size than some competing works and concentrating on the “facts” with little to comfort the “sceptics”, or “contrarians” as the book labels them, this is a useful contribution especially suited to situations where the underlying science is a key concern. Similar titles dealing with climate change in all its aspects continue to pour from the presses of both big and small reference publishers. Examples in the reviewing pipeline include the Politics of Climate Change from Routledge, a volume in the publisher’s ongoing Politics of … series, and the three volume Encyclopedia of Global Warming from Salem Press. Turning to China, amongst several titles relating to the country reviewed in this issue is the Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949) (RR 2010/199). Released as the 25th volume in the publisher’s Historical Dictionaries of Ancient Civilizations and Historical Eras series this will usefully sit alongside the 2007 second edition of the Historical Dictionary of the People’s Republic of China (Sullivan, 2007) (RR 2008/241). The star of the new China titles reviewed here however, alongside which the latest Scarecrow offering seems almost routine, is the five volume Berkshire Encyclopedia of China (RR 2010/195).

This major set is from Massachusetts based Berkshire Publishing, a company rapidly developing a reputation for innovative reference titles less marked by the American-centric approach that flavours so many reference works. Also available online through annual subscription, Berkshire Encyclopedia of China contains 800 articles from an international team of 300 contributors, including a small but significant number from China. In addition to our review, it has enjoyed wide critical acclaim gaining a coveted listing as a Booklist Editor’s Choice for 2009. With this success it is not surprising that Berkshire have already announced a second edition. This will update many articles and include a wide range of new material: “we are (writes Berkshire CEO Karen Christensen) extending certain categories, notably internet and communication media, and business (both historic and contemporary). We’re also particularly keen to provide information on environmental issues so again we’re adding new articles as well as updating. Interactions between China and other countries is of vital importance and goes back many centuries, so we’re planning to include more on individuals, companies, events and on China’s relations with many more countries” (Christensen, 2010). Although other encyclopedic sets on China have recently appeared, notably the four volume Encyclopedia of Modern China (Pong, 2009) (review forthcoming), Berkshire’s readiness to update and expand a work so soon after initial launch could well see it established as the reference standard for general information on China and as such an important acquisition for libraries worldwide.

While discussing Berkshire’s achievement we should also note the company’s burgeoning range of products relating to China, some of which are spin-offs from the Encyclopedia. This is China: The First 5,000 Years (ISBN 978 1 933782 20 1) is a brief history of China drawn from articles in the main Encyclopedia and aimed at the school and undergraduate market. Also offshoots are a series of Berkshire Encyclopedia of China Handbooks. At the time of writing none of these were available, but the first, Brand China: An Encyclopedic Handbook of Global Perceptions and Representations (ISBN 978 1 933782 22 5), was due for release in May. Titles listed to follow included China Sees the World, Internet in China and Education in China. Like This is China, these “encyclopedic handbooks” are intended primarily to be used in teaching courses about China and should have wide appeal both to libraries and students. More for the reference shelf, and not a direct spin-off from the main encyclopedia is Berkshire’s other big China project, The Dictionary of Chinese Biography (ISBN 978 1 9337282 66 9). To be in three volumes and scheduled for release in 2011 this ambitious set will be the first comprehensive biographical dictionary for China in the English language. More information on it and the other publications highlighted above, plus the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China itself, can be found on the Berkshire Publishing web site at www.berkshirepublishing.com

Also leaning heavily on biographical content is Springer’s Historical Encyclopedia of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (RR 2010/180). Issued simultaneously online (PDFs) and in six print volumes, this is entirely the work of one man, Ari Ben-Menahem. The predominantly short entries are arranged in chronological volumes supported by timelines and various appendixes. Ambitious, and grandly presented, our review identifies a number of shortcomings with this set which is perhaps not the major encyclopedic account of the history of the natural and mathematical sciences the title suggests. More successful in its aims is the four volume Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature (RR 2010/172). Aimed primarily at undergraduate students and covering 530 writers, this is a companion to the same publisher’s Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature (Hacht and Hayes, 2009) (review forthcoming) covering the US. In discussing encyclopedic works reviewed we should also not fail to note the impressive two-volume The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History (RR 2010/164). Containing 187 articles averaging two pages in length, but omitting biographical entries, this is likely to be regarded as one of the standard references on American politics work for some time to come.

A good number of other reference “standards” feature in this issue. The General Works section sees three reviewed in succession beginning with The Libraries Directory (RR 2010/153), a UK stalwart now in its fiftieth edition. Next up is another popular and well known regular in UK reference collections, the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (RR 2010/154). Issued in a seventh edition this adds 1,000 new quotations to bring the total to more than 20,000 cementing its position as one of the most versatile general quotation dictionaries available. The final review in this sequence is for the archival version of the Statesman’s Yearbook Online (archive) (RR 2010/155). This should immediately be distinguished from the current Statesman’s Yearbook, last reviewed in 2007 (RR 2007/210), in that it contains PDF versions for all issues for this annual since publication began in 1864. Another reference stalwart nearly as long established as the Statesman’s Yearbook is Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase & Fable. Having recently reviewed its latest spin-off, Brewer’s Dictionary of London Phrase & Fable (Willey, 2009) (RR 2010/146), here we cover the eighteenth edition of the original volume now published under the “Brewer’s” imprint of Chambers Harrap.

Other reviews to highlight include that for the Historical Directory of Trade Unions. This title, last reviewed here in 2008 when the firth in series appeared (RR 2008/65), is finally completed after 25 years with a sixth volume (RR 2010/162). Covering mainly public sector trade unions, as well as adding detail of others omitted previously, this brings the total number covered to nearly 10,000 and will form the basic starting reference for any research excursion into British trade union history. Some readers may have seen press coverage of the website Europeana (RR 2010/187). Reviewed in its prototype version with full release planned for later in 2010, this European Commission funded site aims to provide digital images of objects form the European cultural heritage contributed by museums, galleries and libraries across the member states. The site clearly has enormous potential as a reference resource and we will be returning to take a closer look when fully established. Finally, we have noted before the ability of Greenwood Press to identify a previously unexplored, often rather obscure, reference niche. Their latest venture is the surely unique Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia (RR 2010/160). Browsing the company’s website it was interesting to note a number of similar upcoming reference titles on topics which have little if any reference literature to date. Of particular personal interest is A Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism (review forthcoming), a title that would readily sit alongside Greenwood/ABC-Clio group’s duo of food related titles covered in this issue, Food and Nutrition Controversies Today (RR 2010/178) and Obesity: A Reference Handbook (RR 2010/183). Perhaps these books even signify the start of another reference publishing trend. Given the western world’s looming obesity crisis and emerging concerns about food security, could food, diet and related issues come to rival China and global warming as a sales generating focus of publisher lists?

Tony ChalcraftEditor, Reference Reviews, and University Librarian, York St John University, York, UK