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classification. The encyclopedia is no longer read and Collison, R. L. (1971). Dictionaries of English and foreign languages.
contemplated; it is consulted for objective facts and back- New York: Hafner.
Eco, U. (1984). Metaphor, dictionary, and encyclopedia. New Literary
ground information.And the general encyclopedia is not History: A Journal of Theory and Interpretation, 15(2), 255–271.
the dominant form. There are hundreds of subject ency- Donato, C., & Maniques, R. (Eds.). (1992). The encyclopedia and the age
of revolution. Boston: G. K. Hall.
clopedias, including those like the Groves Dictionary of
Green, J. (1996). Chasing the sun. New York: Henry Holt.
Art and Nature’s Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, that are Kafker, F. (1981). Notable encyclopedias of the seventeenth and eighteenth
larger than many general encyclopedias. centuries. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Katz, B. (1998). Cuniform to computer:A history of reference sources. Lan-
As with dictionaries, computers are accelerating the ham, MD: Scarecrow.
encyclopedia’s transformation. Multivolume sets are Kogan, H. (1958). The great EB. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Landau, S. I. (1989). Dictionaries:The art and craft of lexicography. Cam-
becoming databases, searchable by keywords using
bridge, UK: Cambridge Universiy Press.
Boolean logic. Respected encyclopedias like Britannica Louch, J. (Ed.). (1968). Essays on the encyclopedie of Diderot. Oxford,
are available online and in CD-ROM, and searching is UK: Oxford University Press.
Micklethwait, D. (2000). Noah Webster and the American dictionary. Jef-
not only far easier and more flexible, its results are imme- ferson, NC: McFarland.
diate.The computer also allows the creation of electronic Reddick,A. (1990). The making of Dr. Johnson’s dictionary 1746–1773.
New York: Cambridge University Press.
reference collections above and beyond the encyclopedia.
Steinberg, S. H. (1951). Encyclopædias. Signature: A quadrimestrial of
Resources like the Britannia Online now provide access typography and graphic arts, 12, 3–22.
to the various Britannica encyclopedias, a dictionary, a The uses of encyclopædias: Past, present, and future. (1962). American
Behavioral Scientist, 6, 3–40.
thesaurus, an atlas, and vetted websites. On the down Wells, J. M. (1968). The circle of knowledge: Encyclopedias past and pres-
side, the computer serves to further fragment informa- ent. Chicago: Newberry Library.
Winchester, S. (2003). The meaning of everything:The story of the Oxford
tion, violating one of the encyclopedias original pur-
English Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
poses, organizing knowledge into an understandable Xue, S. (1982). Chinese lexicography, past and present. Dictionaries, 4,
whole.The role encyclopedias have played in preserving 151–169.
knowledge is also threatened by the reliance on electronic
formats that may not exist in coming decades. And the
lack of standards inherent in World Wide Web publishing
endangers the aura of authority and reliability attached to Diplomacy
both dictionaries and encyclopedias. In short the future
holds both exciting promise and troubling pitfalls for he term diplomacy refers to the conduct of relations
these historically valuable reference works. Tbetween kingdoms, empires, states, and nation-
states. Diplomacy has existed as long as humans have
Tom Gilson
lived in organized societies. Early records from ancient
See also Libraries; Mass Media; Writing Systems and civilizations around the world show that rulers regularly
Materials used emissaries to convey messages to one another and
to negotiate agreements. But most historians would agree
that modern diplomacy originated in Renaissance Italy.
Further Reading
Bailey, D. C. (1960). Early Japanese lexicography. Monumenta Nipponica,
16(1/2), 1–52. Rise of Modern Diplomacy
Benson, P. (2001). Ethnocentrism and the English dictionary. London: During the fourteenth century the Italian city-state of
Routledge.
Carter, M. G. (1998). Medieval lexicography. In J. S. Meisami & P. Starkey Venice emerged as a major commercial power in Europe.
(Eds.), Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature (pp. 467–469). London: The prosperity and strength ofVenice depended on accu-
Routledge.
Collison, R. L. (1964). Encyclopaedias: Their history throughout the rate knowledge of economic and political conditions in
ages. New York: Hafner. the states with whom the Venetians were trading.Venice