[lit-ideas] Re: 9th edition of the EB
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 5 Nov 2007 16:05:40 -0800
I think we've been sold a pig in a poke.
David Ritchie
hurrumphing in
Portland, Oregon
On Nov 5, 2007, at 3:55 PM, Lawrence Helm wrote:
So one must go to the Index, Volume 25, find which volume the
article you want is in, e.g., volume 4; close Volume 25 and open
Volume 4. The page number you copied down from the Index will not
help you find this article with any accuracy in Volume 4 because
the page numbers in the Encyclopedia do not match the page numbers
in the Adobe Reader.
There seems to be room for improvement here.
Lawrence
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-
bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Lawrence Helm
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2007 3:06 PM
To: Lit-Ideas
Subject: [lit-ideas] 9th edition of the EB
I received my DVD copy of the 9th Edition of the Encyclopedia
Britannica. It is difficult to know what volume contains a word
because the volumes are only identified by number. I guessed that
“Argentina” might be in volume one and so went into the volume and
did a search. That took some time and I learned that it wasn’t
there. So I went to volume two. I discovered that the search
engine was much too slow and it would be better to guess at a page
and then go there. Eventually I got to the “Argentine Republic.”
Then I tried to copy 20 or 30 lines from the beginning of the
article only to learn that was forbidden. Copying requires a
password, and no password was provided. So I wrote to the seller
to ask what was going on. I suspect he will tell me that it would
have cost too much to put a copy and paste feature in this DVD and
that what I got provides me as much capability as a hard copy.
It does allow me to print the pages I want, but the quality isn’t
great. I think, David, that you’ll ruin your eyes before you read
this edition either on your computer or by printing out the pages.
I printed out the article on the Argentine Republic. Here are a
few lines:
“Including the Indian tribes, who are in almost undisputed
possession of half its territory, the country does not contain half
so many inhabitants as the city of London though it extends over an
area as great as all Central and Western Europe combined; and the
fertility of its vast plains, together with the yet undeveloped
wealth of its mineral resources, indicate that it is well able to
sustain as numerous a population as that of the part of Europe just
alluded to. Its extent in latitude is greater than that of any
other existing country, if we except the comparatively useless
foreign regions of British America and those of the Russian empire,
though it only slightly exceeds that of the comparatively narrow
slip of land which forms the neighboring Republic of Chili. It is
bounded on the W. by Chili; on the S. by the Strait of Magellan; on
the E. by the Atlantic Ocean, the Oriental Republic, the Empire of
Brazil, and the Republic of Paraguay; and on the N. by the Republic
of Bolivia. The boundary to the W. is formed by the mountain chain
of the Andes. The southern limit is at present a question in
dispute with the Government of Chili, who claim the entire extent
of the Strait of Magellan; but it is probable the Argentine
Government will make good its claim to the eastern portion. The
broad stream of the Uruguay below its tributary, the Guarey, or
Cuareim, divides it from the Oriental Republic, except that the
small but important island of Martin Garcia, close to the Oriental
shore of the Uruguay at its junction with the Parana, belongs to
the Argentine Republic. . . .”
This DVD is not quite as user friendly or as useful as I had hoped,
but I’m sure the seller will ask me what I expected for just $9.99.
Lawrence
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