A Dictionary of World History (2nd edition)

摘要

How relevant or useful is a hardcopy dictionary of world history as a reference tool in the twenty-firstrncentury library? Who would use such a resource and for what purpose? When asked to review the A Dictionary of World History, one of my first thoughts was, is this really a relevant reference item for libraries today? In the entry on the Information Revolution, the dictionary posits that inter alia, "many questions can be answered quickly by a search of the internet". Okay, not all questions, but many questions. Essentially this does not tell us anything we do not already know, but it does pose the question, why would I (or a patron in a library) use the this dictionary when a simple trawl of the Internet over a (potentially) high speed broadband connection could give me rapid, just-in-time access to huge amounts of world history-type information?