NEWSLETTER
Society for the History of Children and Youth
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Number 5 | Winter 2005 |
hIn this Issue: "The Golden Age of the Encyclopedia" This may be the golden age of history-related encyclopedias; most SHCY members have probably contributed at least one or two pieces to an encyclopedia in the last few years. Literally dozens of new encyclopedia have recently been published or are in the process of being compiled, on topics ranging from Routledge's "Advertising Age" Encyclopedia of Advertising to ABC-CLIO's World War II: A Student Encyclopedia and including volumes on cowboys, hoaxes, Jack the Ripper, scandals, snow, taboos, urban legends, and vampires. A search for "encyclopedia" on Amazon.com results in over 20,000 hits (although that includes many entries for Encyclopedia Brown books); ABC-CLIO (http://www.abc-clio.com/) alone lists well over 200 titles that feature the word "encyclopedia," while Thompson Gale (http://www.galegroup.com/), another major publisher of reference works, lists 300, and Facts on File (http://www.factsonfile.com/) includes over 180 in its current on-line catalog. Individual cities and athletic teams have been the subjects of encyclopedias, as have most ethnic groups, countries, literary traditions, and countless other distinct subjects and traditions. A number of the encyclopedias published in the last few years are related to children's history. They include several two-volume sets published by ABC-CLIO in their American Family Series: Jacqueline V. Lerner and Richard M. Lerner, Adolescence in America; Priscilla Ferguson Clement and Jacqueline S. Reinier, Boyhood in America; Miriam Forman-Brunell, Girlhood in America; Joseph Hawes and Elizabeth Shores, The Family in America; Alice Sterling Honig, Hiram E. Fitzgerald, and Holly Brophy-Herb, Infancy in America; and Lawrence Balter, Parenthood in America. Thompson Gale produced Paula S. Fass's 3 vol. Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood: In History and Society, as well as Lee C. Deighton's Encyclopedia of Education. We can't possibly review all of these encyclopedias or discuss all of the issues they raise (or fail to raise, in some cases). But we explore at least the tip of the encyclopedia iceberg in this issue of the SHCY Newsletter, as editors of recent encyclopedias, Paula Fass and Joe Hawes, present their views on the process of completing a project of the magnitude of a multi-volume encyclopedia, while Joe Austin and Dewar Macleod offer users' points of view. James Marten, Co-Editor Contents: Winter 2005 The Golden Age of the Encyclopedia
Feature Articles
Regular Columns
News from the Field: Nancy Zey and David Pomfret, editors February, 2005 With this issue we say good-bye to Jim Marten, who has been co-editor of the Newsletter since the first issue in 2003. We also bid hello to two new editors, Colleen Vasconcellos and Sean Martin. Colleen, with an interest in Latin American history, and Sean, a Europeanist, will add an international dimension to the Newsletter. We also welcome a new editor for our "News from the Field" column. Nancy Zey will join David Pomfret to compile this regular feature of the Newsletter. As always, the Newsletter invites your contributions. Propose a new column, volunteer to contribute to one of the regular features, write a special article, develop a theme and act as coordinator for an issue, help design a new layout. We want the Newsletter to represent the interests of SHCY members and to be a useful publication that you’ll take time to read and want to share with others. We can only do that with your help. The next issue of the Newsletter will arrive later than usual-- not until late August, after the third biennial meeting of the Society for the History of Children and Youth. The SHCY meeting is scheduled for August 5-8, 2005, in Milwaukee. The theme: Children's Worlds/Children in the World. Look for more information in the spring.
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