Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Encyclopedias


Do you have an encyclopedia set? Or are you like a lot of people and have gotten rid of them due to the easy access of information online? I bought this set many years ago at a yard sale, of all places. I think I spent $5 or $10 for the set. It is missing one book, and as stupid as it might be, it's always the one book I want to look at. It's the "Sa-Sn" book -- go figure.

We really don't use the set all that much. It's from 1986, I believe, so it's a bit outdated. Nathan uses it every now and then for his Language class, so that's good. I have no intention of getting rid of them yet, even though the books are heavy and take up a lot of space. I suppose I keep them mostly for nostalgia sake. I grew up with a set of World Books and it would just feel weird not to have a set of encyclopedias in the house.

How about you -- have a set, or are they a thing of the past?

9 comments:

  1. I had a set growing up, and they were very handy for school reports. I liked to browse through them, too. But for now I'm afraid between the lack of shelf space and convenience of the internet, it's something I can live without.

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  2. We have a couple of sets. One very old one that belonged to my husband's family.I've used it quite a few times, I like looking at the pictures, especially the section on birds. And, my mother got a set for my oldest son (now 30) when he was very young.

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  3. There are two sets at my parent's house. I used the read the Junior Brittanica for fun. Especially the entries on chocolate making and horses.
    I kinda miss those encyclopedias! I may have to steal them from my parent's house. They're historical artifacts now!

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  4. We had a set growing up. The books were small, a bit smaller than a paperback. The print was tiny, but they were crammed with information. We learned about Sir John Denham, from the 1600s, who was Surveyor of the King's Works and buried in Westminster Abbey. We always used to like to think we were his descendents, paraticularly since my father's name was John.

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  5. We couldn't afford to buy encyclopedias but I got to use them at my friend's. It was the Brittanica and we used them quite a bit for our school work.

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  6. We had a 1990 set of World Book that we dumped about a year ago. I'm willing to toss things WAY before DH is, but even he agreed we could use the space for other things. Growing up, we had Brittanica. I never did much with them except look at the naked statues and enjoy snippets of the learned British voice. My mother later expressed regret that they hadn't bought something more kid-friendly.

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  7. I don't have a set, but I've been keeping my eyes open for YEARS to buy one. If only to let the boys thumb through them!

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  8. My grandparents passed down a set, but I admit I hardly ever use them anymore. The Internet is just so much more accessible.

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  9. OMG. The picture came up and I flashed back to eighth grade.

    No, I don't have a set. I find everything I need online now. Crazy.

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