Encyclopedia of World Biography. Hoxha- Kierkegaard Vol. 08

Presents brief biographical sketches which provide vital statistics as well as information on the importance of the person listed. VOYA This seventeen-volume set provides ...substantial and authoritative articles on 7,000 internationally renowned individuals, both contemporary and historical. The information is arranged throughout the sixteen volumes alphabetically by name; volume 17 is the index. The length of each biographical synopsis varies, many are accompanied with black-and-white photographs, and there are suggestions for further reading. A collection of this magnitude is a good addition to school and public libraries of all sizes. Since the key to easily finding information in these volumes is knowing how to search the index, patrons will need to be instructed on how to correctly access the information. The guidelines on how to use the index are brief and helpful. The index itself is arranged by specific topics: persons, places, events, ideas, titles of works, etc. The index also classifies the subjects of the articles by shared characteristics, such as immigrants and child prodigies. There are also listings for vocations, such as artists, military leaders, scientists, and statesmen. Here again, the reader will need assistance in choosing the correct terminology for the search. For the student who needs information on African American business leaders, American astronauts, or Italian artists, following the index will reduce the search time. Conducting sample searches is a good way to test the strengths and weaknesses of this set. For example, a typical student who is searching the index for information on Mother Teresa will find an entry and see a reference for Mother Jones as Jones, Mary Harris, but no entry for Mother Teresa. Further searching the index for Teresa, the patron will find a citation for Teresa in volume 15 under a caption of Mother Teresa. Opening this volume the patron will find up-to-date information on Mother Teresa, along with suggestions for further reading to recent articles in MacLean's and People. Interestingly, there is also this statement: information on Mother Teresa may be accessed on the Internet by doing a search of her name. When questioned about this statement, EWB editors stated that such a statement should have been edited. Some entries for contemporary leaders, such as Bill Clinton, do include specific Web addresses. Searches for Princess Di and Bill Cosby had up-to-date information. There were entries for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Hilary Clinton, but not Barbara Bush or Nancy Reagan. Some entries on contemporary individuals are not as current as patrons usually like them to be; for example, in public libraries many book discussion group leaders request biographical author information. The entries for Danielle Steel, Michael Crichton, P. D. James, and Tom Clancy were informative but only included their writing published in the early 1990s. Overall, this is a good reference tool that can be given to students to begin research for school biography reports, and is recommended for purchase. Much like other encyclopedia sets are standard tools for libraries, this is the source to go to first when a patron approaches and says: I need biographical information about... Libraries that own the 1973 Encyclopedia of World Biography will want this new edition. Seventeen volumes. Index. Photos. v. 1. A-Barbosa v. 2. Bardeen-Briand v. 3. Brice-Ch'i Pai-Shih v. 4. Chippendale-Dickinson v. 5. Diderot-Forbes v. 6. Ford-Grilliparzer v. 7. Grimke-Howells v. 8. Hoxha-Kierkegaard v. 9. Kilpatrick-Louis v. 10. Love-Micah v. 11. Michael-Orleans v. 12. Orozco-Radisson v. 13. Raffles-Schelling v. 14. Schiele-Stuart v. 15. Studi-Visser v. 16. Vitoria-Zworykin v. 17. Index 18. Supplement A-Z [1999] v. 19. Supplement A-Z [2000] v. 20. Supplement A-Z [2000] v. 21. Supplement A-Z [2001] v. 22. Supplement A-Z [2002] v. 23. Supplement A-Z [2004]. v. 24. Supplement A-Z [2005]