Encyclopedias a thing of the past?  

I think no. Encyclopedias are very good!!!!! There are many things you can find in as encyclopedia you'll never find in Internet for example!!!!!!! I think it's very good and can help us so much nowadays!!!!!!

Encyclopedias are still very much a thing of the present, and will continue to be for years to come. However, if the encyclopedias you mentioned are those thick, hard cover volumes, then maybe they could really be a thing of the past.

Nowadays, almost every household has a computer. Manufacturers see this as an opportunity to produce encyclopedias in a much cheaper way - in CD or DVD formats.

Firstly, it is definitely welcomed by environmentalists to go green. Secondly, one can simply carry the entire volume of encyclopedias on CDs and DVDs whenever he goes. No sweat about it. Thirdly, you don't have to specially purchases bookshelves to store those thick volumes, so you save storage space as a result. Last but not least, it is a breeze looking up stuff in these electronic encyclopedias. Just type in the keyword(s) at the search textbox and voila! The info you need appears right in front of your eyes.

In my opinion encyclopedias are not in past! This student is maybe just trying to be original. I'm sure he knows very well! But maybe not . . . If it's so, . . . such a pity! But encyclopedias will never die - they can become digital, but will stand still. Isn't it google some kind of digital encyclopedia? Like you said, the children even don't need them now when they can use google. It's even easier to use google than encyclopedias.

I've still got my World Book encyclopedia set from childhood. It's gone with me through every move I've ever made, despite them being so heavy! lol. I still use them. What I've discovered as differences between reference books online and my hard cover set generally have to do with wording. A lot of words used a couple of decades ago, or even a decade ago are no longer in use. Simply because people don't "talk" the way they used to. (Of course it's grist for another discussion how language, particularly the English language, has deteriorated over time. lol) It's a sad trend to me that the use of the internet is replacing going to a library or having a set of encyclopedias. My parents had to pinch their pennies in order to buy them, one book a month. Hard cover encyclopedias are also useful in learning how to spell. You don't have to be able to spell to look something up on Google. It'll ask you "did you mean...." and spell it for you.

It's true, the internet has largely replaced the use of encyclopedias. I have some old ones at home but haven't looked into them in a long time. I usually google things.

That has the advantage that it contains more recent words and terms, is free and quick. But it has the disadvantage that you don't always get correct, checked and edited information...

I think your students would do well to check some encyclopedias as well - they need quality checked reference books for university, not just the internet.

I remember going through random pages of my dad's hard-cover Encyclopedia Britannica volumes when I was a kid. Now-a-days, I use Wikipedia all the time to look up technical terms or just random pages for curiosity. Very few people actually understand that wikis are written by regular people like you and me, and one cannot always expect neutrality and objectivity from these articles. So if you want objectivity, you better stick to the famous brands in the business. But Wikipedia does give me a starting point and some references, and that's all I need!

I still crave for an hard-bound Encyclopedia set to adorn my living room bookshelf. I am gonna get those one of these days, and flip through the pages at my leisure! Kids from the Google Generation won't ever get to know the pleasure in it!

It is faster on Internet, true, but holding a book in your hand - that's something special. I am all day on my computer, but I have thousands of books. That's the only thing I give money for. When I look on the Internet - it's information, but when I look at book - it's wisdom. I guess that the books will never die for us who are older than 25, but for somebody who is born in the Internet age that's a different story. We first took books, then Internet, so our love for books never dies.

Hi mac, One can never be sure if it is a good thing or bad . I personally feel that books and computers have their own importance and we need to teach the children to use them the way they are meant to be used. I have kept every single knowledge book that I bought for my children over the years ,when they were growing up including different kinds of Atlas, Encyclopedias,general knowledge books,fiction etc; and they love going through them, when they come down for their holidays.I too am constantly going through them and lend them to other children when there is need.I am all for books and Encycyclopedias...

I absolutely remember. I still have 2 sets of Britannica. My father paid BUKOO bucks for the newer set when I was in Elementary School. I used to sit around and read only the books about nature and science. I remember when we got our first computer. The first program we installed was an electronic Encyclopedia that Gateway provided in our software package. It was the coolest thing!! Information from a COMPUTER! Are Encyclopedias dead? Well in short, yes. Maybe not right now because there are those of us that remember them fondly. But the younger generations are obviously going to lean on the internet for their source of information. I unfortunately know 3 or more teenagers that don't even know the names of the Months in a year. And of course not one of them can spell Wednesday. We have one of the most powerful information databases available EVER. And they use it to look at dirty pictures and Instant Messaging.

No. I found that wikipedia is more biased and provides very inaccurate information on some grounds. I prefer britanica and other encyclopedia who are more professionally handled. I do think paper encyclopedia will be there for some time.