The ''Volume Library'' was a one-volume general encyclopedic reference work that was published from 1911 to 1985. It remained as a two or three volume reference work until at least 2004. The publication began in 1911 by W. E. Richardson of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. 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. 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. 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". 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 Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. It expanded to 2 volumes in 1985. 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. The encyclopedia was criticized in the 1970s and 1980s for being out of date and having a conservative bias. In the 1985 edition, subjects such as

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

and

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

were hardly mentioned, if 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. 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". The set still had some limitations, not discussing or discussing very briefly topics such as abortion,

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

circumcision Circumcision is a procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the foreskin is excised. T ...

. It also lacked biographical entries for people such as

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credi ...

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist and editor. Her first novel, ''The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically accl ...

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...

and

Charles Drew Charles Drew may refer to: * Charles R. Drew (1904–1950), American physician, surgeon, and medical researcher * Charles Drew (cricketer) (1888–1960), Australian cricketer * Charles Drew (surgeon) (1916–1987), cardiothoracic surgeon * Char ...

. 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. There were 300 cross-references but these only cross-referenced within each topical area's "volume". There was also an index of 30,000 entries. Articles were arranged topically under headings such as "Animals", "Computers", "Government and Law" etc. The set contained much practical advice, 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". There was also an optional supplementary third volume which contained information for taking standardized tests and a full color world atlas. The physical format now included

thumb index 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 entrie ...

es with fore-edges showing where each topical chapter began.Kister 1994 pp.158, 160

References

External links

*
The volume library: a concise, graded repository of practical and cultural knowledge designed for both instruction and reference
' Chicago, The W. E. Richardson company, 1911. *
The Volume library; a concise, graded repository of practical and cultural knowledge designed for both instruction and reference
' Chicago, The W.E. Richardson company 1912 *
The Volume library; a concise, graded repository of practical and cultural knowledge designed for both instruction and reference
' Ann Arbor, Mich., Educators Association,

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...

*
The Volume library; a concise, graded repository of practical and cultural knowledge designed for both instruction and reference
' Ann Arbor, Mich., Educators Association, 1923 {{Authority control Single-volume general reference works Publications established in 1911 American encyclopedias

See also

References

External links