The Volume Library was a one volume general reference work that was published from 1911 to 1985. It remained as a two or three volume reference work until at least 2004.
Contents
The publication began in 1911 by W. E. Richardson of Chicago. It was edited by Henry Woldmar Ruoff who also edited the New Century Book of Facts and the Standard Dictionary of Facts and others. New editions were published in 1912 and 1913, the latter under the imprint of R. P. Trosper. [1] Beginning with the 1917 edition it was published by the Education Associates, Inc. and remained with that company until 1963 when the encyclopedia was purchased by Cowles Communications Inc. [2]
Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450 (2017), it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States, and the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often referred to as "Chicagoland." The Chicago metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States; the fourth largest in North America ; and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.
The New Century Book of Facts was a single volume general reference work published in the United States from 1909 to 1964.
The Standard Dictionary of Facts was a single volume general encyclopedia that was published from 1908 to 1922 on an annual basis by the Frontier Press of Buffalo. It was in some ways a predecessor to that firms much more famous Lincoln Library of Essential Information.
From 1963 the set was titled Cowles Comprehensive Encyclopedia - the Volume Library. Under Cowles the work was said to be "extensively revised and vastly improved". [3] In 1968 the title was changed again to Cowles Volume Library and was changed back to Volume Library in 1970, after having been acquired by the Southwestern Company of Nashville, Tennessee. It expanded to 2 volumes in 1985. [4]
Nashville is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The city is the county seat of Davidson County and is located on the Cumberland River. The city's population ranks 24th in the U.S. According to 2017 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the total consolidated city-county population stood at 691,243. The "balance" population, which excludes semi-independent municipalities within Davidson County, was 667,560 in 2017.
The 1985 edition had 2,650 pages, 8,500 articles and 3.5 million words. The set included 2,000 illustrations, mostly in black and white, and 200 maps, included a 64 page world atlas at the end of Vol. 2. The articles were of the broad entry type, each about 400 pages or one third of a page. 300 contributors were listed at the beginning of Vol. 1 and 75 percent of the articles were signed. The encyclopedia was topically arranged and contained 500 cross references, with an index of 50,000 entries. [5] The encyclopedia was criticized in the 1970s and 1980s for being out of date and having a conservative bias. In the 1985 edition, subjects so as abortion, homosexuality, AIDS and birth control were hardly mentioned, it at all. It was also criticized for using sexist language. Factual errors and outdated information were also reported, though extensive revisions to correct these took place in the mid-1980s, when the encyclopedia was converted to a two volume format. [6]
Abortion is the ending of pregnancy due to removing an embryo or fetus before it can survive outside the uterus. An abortion that occurs spontaneously is also known as a miscarriage. When deliberate steps are taken to end a pregnancy, it is called an induced abortion, or less frequently an "induced miscarriage". The word abortion is often used to mean only induced abortions. A similar procedure after the fetus could potentially survive outside the womb is known as a "late termination of pregnancy" or less accurately as a "late term abortion".
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions."
Birth control, also known as contraception and fertility control, is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only became available in the 20th century. Planning, making available, and using birth control is called family planning. Some cultures limit or discourage access to birth control because they consider it to be morally, religiously, or politically undesirable.
In the 1980s Southwestern contracted with the Hudson Group, Inc. to revise the set. Under chief editor Gorton Carruth the quality of the encyclopedia improved dramatically and by 1994 the set was "as accurate as could be expected of a work of more than two million words". [7] The set still had some limitations, not discussing or discussing very briefly topics such as abortion, sexual harassment or circumcision. It also lacked biographical entries for people such as Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Philip Glass and Charles Drew. [8]
Hudson Group, one of the largest travel retailers in North America, is a wholly owned subsidiary of international travel retailer Dufry AG of Basel. Based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, the Company operates more than 970 Hudson, Hudson News, Hudson Booksellers, cafes, specialty retail and duty-free shops in 87 airports and transportation terminals in the United States and Canada.
Sexual harassment is bullying or coercion of a sexual nature and the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from mild transgressions to sexual abuse or assault. Harassment can occur in many different social settings such as the workplace, the home, school, churches, etc. Harassers or victims may be of either gender.
Male circumcision is the removal of the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common procedure, the foreskin is opened, adhesions are removed, and the foreskin is separated from the glans. After that, a circumcision device may be placed and then the foreskin is cut off. Topical or locally injected anesthesia is sometimes used to reduce pain and physiologic stress. For adults and children, general anesthesia is an option, and the procedure may be performed without a specialized circumcision device. The procedure is most often an elective surgery performed on babies and children for religious or cultural reasons. In other cases it may be done as a treatment for certain medical conditions or for preventative reasons. Medically it is a treatment option for problematic cases of phimosis, balanoposthitis that does not resolve with other treatments, and chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs). It is contraindicated in cases of certain genital structure abnormalities or poor general health.
In terms of format, the 1994 version had 2,568 pages, 2.5 million words and 3,000 maps and illustrations, 95 per cent of which were in black and white. The set had 8,500 articles with 100 bibliographies. Carruth was supported by a staff of 106 contributors, whose names, areas of responsibility, degrees and affiliation were listed at the beginning of each volume. [9] There were 300 cross-references but these only cross-referenced within each topical ares - "volume". There was also an index of 30,000 entries. [10] Articles were arranged topically under headings such as "Animals", "Computors", "Government and Law" etc. The set contained much practical advise, including how to write a resume, follow the stock market, save energy, conduct a self breast examination and "Do's and Don'ts of Pregnancy". [11] There was also an optional supplementary third volume which contained information for taking standardized tests and a full color world atlas. The psychical format now included thumb indexes with fore-edges showing where each topical chapter began. [12]
A thumb index, also called a cut-in index or an index notch, is a round cut-out in the pages of dictionaries, encyclopedias, Bibles and other large religious books, and various sectioned, often alphabetic, reference works, used to locate entries starting at a particular letter or section. The individual notches are called thumb cuts.
