Encyclopaedia

Encyclopaedia

• The word 'encyclopaedia' comes from the Greek word 'enkyklios paideia, 'which translates to 'universal knowledge' and was regarded in ancient Greece as a valuable talent.
• A systematic collection of knowledge or information on numerous topics is an encyclopaedia.
• Encyclopaedias organise their knowledge or information in a certain way.
• The primary goal of encyclopaedias is to organise and make accessible the knowledge that is already available.
  

  Specimen of Encyclopaedia

Types of Encyclopaedias:

Encyclopaedias can be approximately divided into four types.  

1. Dictionaries: 

• The sequence of the words in dictionaries varies from language to language (alphabetical order is more common).
• It provides word definitions, synonyms, and etymology. 
• There are many different kinds of dictionaries
  (i) Comprehensive dictionaries,  
  (ii) Dictionaries that only contain a certain kind of word,  
  (iii) Terminology dictionaries (which deal with terms specific to a field of expertise), 
  (iv) Etymological dictionaries 
  (v) Thesaurus
  (vi) Idiom and proverb dictionaries, etc. 
  

  Dictionaries

2. Comprehensive Encyclopaedia (Vishwakosh):

• The Vishwakosh comes in two varieties.  

1. It covers any topic imaginable (such as ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica,’ ‘Maharashtriya Dnyankosh,’ ‘Marathi Vishvakosh,’ etc.). 
2. It provides in-depth details on the selected subject. Bharatiya Samkruti Kosh, Vyayam Dnyankosh, etc. are a few examples.

3. Encyclopaedic (Koshsadrush) Literature: 

• It is comparable to an encyclopaedia, which has scholarly articles that cover every element of one or more predetermined subjects.
• For instance, the volumes of ‘Maharashtra Jeevan,’ ‘Shahar Pune,’ ‘Yearbook’ (Manorama, Times of India), etc. 

4. Indexes:  

• An index is typically found at the bottom of a book.
• The alphabetical listings of individuals, subjects, locations, key phrases, reference books, etc. are called indexes.
• For example, the Marathi periodicals index created by S.G. Date. Indexes aid in the discovery of needed information and make the content of a book more accessible.