Encyclopedia
Article
May 29, 2022
The encyclopedia (百科事典, English: encyclopedia, Latin: encyclopædia) is a book that has been systematically organized and interpreted for each item by collecting knowledge from various fields on all aspects of nature and human activities, such as science, technology, and art, and was mainly used as a reference book. . The English name of the encyclopedia, 'encyclopedia', is derived from the combination of the Greek words ἐγκύκλιος and παιδεία, which means to teach and nurture all kinds of knowledge. In other words, the original purpose of the encyclopedia was 'education'. Meanwhile, another purpose of the encyclopedia is 'reference'. Modern encyclopedias often have the purpose of both 'education' and 'reference'. The types of encyclopedias are divided according to the scope of the headwords. Constructing an encyclopedia with headwords with a wide range is called macro-itemism, and using headwords with a relatively narrow range is called sub-itemism. Major itemism is a method of explaining a topic in depth and comprehensively, and an educational encyclopedia chooses the method of collecting and weaving the papers of famous scholars, a typical example. On the other hand, encyclopedias adopting sub-itemism are described in a concise and concise manner for each heading, and have the advantage of providing information on various headings compared to large-itemism, so they are often used in encyclopedias for reference purposes. Today's encyclopedias have many compromises, and in terms of content, not only textual descriptions but also various reference materials such as photos, illustrations, and diagrams are provided. In modern times, with the development of information and communication technology, some are in the form of CD-ROM and DVD-ROM rather than in the form of traditional books, and others that are provided on the Internet have appeared. Korean encyclopedias provided online in Korea include Korean Wikipedia, Doosan World Encyclopedia, and Britannica World Encyclopedia.