The Case for a Good Set of Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias are the most underused, unappreciated education resources in the world. Sure, lots of people own them. Schools and libraries have them, too. Kids look stuff up in them, often copy it verbatim or gather key facts for dry reports – but what’s their real potential?

Here’s a very small sampling of what you can learn from a set of encyclopedias:

How to add, subtract, multiply and divide

The basics of chemistry

How the water cycle works

All about trees, birds, mammals, etc.

The history of the world

The life-stories of thousands of important people

The basics of philosophy

How the human body works

The parts of speech

All about literature

How nuclear power works

The basics of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus

How cars work

How to put together a science project

The history of language

How to write an outline

How to write a research paper

Most articles in an encyclopedia recommend more articles, leading you on a journey of expanded knowledge and discovery. Many articles also recommend outside resources.

You’ll also find maps, charts, photographs, diagrams, outlines and even review questions.

Is the reading a little dry? Yup, but most articles aren’t that long. And if you find yourself interested in something, the writing style gets lost in the content.

Another great thing about encyclopedias is that once you have a volume in your hand, you tend toward flipping through it, and pretty soon you’ve learned even more.

Let me say here that a good, old-fashioned print version beats an electronic version any day of the week. You’re more inclined to cruise and to read for pleasure. Also, most people don’t recognize when their electronic encyclopedia is actually an abridged version. Most free on-line versions, as well as most cheap CD versions, are abridged.

What about Wikipedia? Hmm. I know all about the study done by a magazine that deemed Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica on the articles they studied, but try this little experiment before deciding for yourself: Look up several things on Wikipedia, then click on the history button at the top of each article. That will show you all the people who have contributed to the article and who have made changes. Anyone can change an article – you, me, anyone.

Wikipedia does offer one good research resource, though – at the end of each article, you’ll find links to outside sources of information. Sometimes they’re quite useful.

Which brand to buy? I’m a World Book fan. It’s user-friendly and accessible to a variety of ages. But you should do a little research and see what looks best to you (many libraries carry multiple brands).

Does it cost a lot? It’s a significant investment, but it is an investment – and one that will pay off if you let it. If you were to try to buy the information in a set of encyclopedias in individual books, you would pay literally hundreds of times more than a new set of encyclopedias would cost you.

Do you need to buy them new? No, but keep in mind that you’ll have to be more careful about certain information in an old set, mostly in the area of science. If you buy used, aim for not too used.

I bought my set of World Book in 1987 when my boys were 7 and 2 years old. We still use them many times every week. For all the years we homeschooled, at the end of each day, I would go around the house gathering volumes and stashing them back on their shelf.

If you had no other education resource, you could come out a pretty well-rounded person with just a set of encyclopedias.