Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 16, 1991 TAG: 9103160026
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAULA MONAREZ/ LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
What the former billionaire lacks is enough significance to make it into 1991 edition of World Book Encyclopedia, according to its editors.
"A person must have made a major contribution to his or her field," said A. Richard Harmet, World Book executive editor.
World Book Encyclopedia annually updates its books with numerous articles. This year's revision encompassed 2,700 articles and cost $3.5 million, said Pat Higgins-Crane, senior director of corporate communications for World Book.
"That was about a half-million more than it cost last year," Higgins-Crane said. "That's because there were so many things happening, you know, like the German reunification and the war in the Middle East. We were revising and updating up until the very end." (Deadline was the second week in December.)
New subjects this year include reggae music, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, longtime baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan, former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega and New York Mayor David Dinkins.
There also have been revisions, Higgins-Crane said. The history of Eastern Europe had to be rewritten because of the sweeping reforms. A section on rock music was completely revised and expanded to include the sociological and economic importance of the music. And World Book's science coverage was updated to include the Voyager 2 spacecraft's findings about Neptune.
Articles deleted or merged with other subjects include: plexiglass, which now can be found in an article on acrylic; synchrocyclotron, an early form of particle acceleration that is no longer relevant; and naval store, the tar once used in ship building.
Revising the 22-volume encyclopedia is a yearlong project, Higgins-Crane said. Editors first review each subject. Advisory committees, featuring experts from the various fields, then are asked for input.
In addition, World Book editors review the curricula of students from kindergarten through 12th grade to determine what subjects most students will be learning this year.
"As an example, let's say that most third-graders this year are going to be studying dogs, then we would add more information on that subject to our encyclopedias," Higgins-Crane said. "And we would write it in way that would make it easier for third-graders to understand."
It takes three months to publish a new edition, she said.
"And as soon as we finish one edition, we start working on next year's," Higgins-Crane said. "It never stops."
by CNB