基本信息出版社：Scholastic Library Publishing
出版日期：2006年01月
ISBN：0717201392
条形码：9780717201396
装帧：精装
正文语种：英语
外文书名：美国百科全书

专业书评 From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–While many libraries have chosen to superannuate the print encyclopedia, Americana continues to improve its 30-volume compendium of general knowledge that was first published more than 175 years ago. This latest edition boasts 45,000 alphabetically arranged articles focusing on history, society, literature, philosophy, politics, and geography, all indexed in a stand-alone volume. Subjects with updated entries include Hurricane Katrina, Prince Charles, and Anne Bancroft, and the acceptance of Iraq's constitution on October 15, 2005. Approximately 1200 articles have been rewritten (Social Security, Pakistan, etc.). Contributors' names and affiliations appear at the end of the articles. All entries begin with a pronunciation guide, and many are supplemented by suggestions for further reading, charts, tables, or illustrations. The large, colorful maps accompanying country and state articles are indexed. Elsewhere, captioned color photos enhance the text, but many black-and-white photos depicting modern life are 20 or 30 years out of date and detract from the presentation. Likewise, the encyclopedia largely ignores popular culture and lags in updating economic and technology topics, so students seeking information on J. K. Rowling, up-to-date Federal Reserve indexes, or hybrid automobiles will need to look elsewhere. The set's value lies in its scope, depth, and accuracy as a standard of comparison about most subjects. It provides a number of gems, such as multipaged, illustrated coverage of Archaeology, United States, Ancient Rome, Snakes, World War II, and Universe.–Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY
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