The Internet: A Historical Encyclopedia

Presented in an unintimidating format--three slim volumes, fairly large type, a sprinkling of b&w photos--this reference packs in plenty of solid material and will have wide appeal for students in middle school and above, but also for curious adults who want to fill some gaps in their general knowledge. One volume is a chronology beginning with the prehistory of the Internet (1843-1956) and ending with the 2004 presidential campaign. The 200 entries are not single- line listings but instead are thorough explanations occupying a page or two. Statistics and online resources are appended. Another volume profiles key figures, and the third contains essays on issues (e.g. content filtering, cookies, digital libraries, education, open source). Each volume includes lengthy bibliographies and the following back matter: a list of acronyms, glossary, index, and notes about the authors (most of whom are seasoned writers with an interest in technology). Annotation © 2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

This encyclopedia expands on its RUSA Award-winning predecessor from 2000 with a Biographies volume, an Issues volume, and a revised and extended Chronology volume. Lambert's (Encyclopedia of State and Women's History) Biographies volume includes 41 profiles of individuals who have helped shape the Internet, from hackers (e.g., Kevin Mitnick) to programmers (e.g., James Gosling) to entrepreneurs (e.g., Jeff Bezos). Science and technology writer Chris Woodford's Issues volume provides a practical introduction to 35 Internet-related topics, including copyright, privacy, and the digital divide. Each entry is approximately seven pages long and contains references to related articles in the set as well as a "Further Reading" section; all three volumes contain a glossary, a list of acronyms, and an index. The eight-chapter Chronology volume, edited by Hilary W. Poole (Encyclopedia of New Media) and Christos J.P. Moschovitis (founder & CEO, tmg-e*media, NYC), offers a time line of the Internet with sidebars that begins with Internet prehistory (1843-1956) and ends in 2004, for a total of 200 brief entries. Each chapter includes references. Two appendixes round out this final volume, one a particularly useful compilation of Internet statistics. Bottom Line A cumulative index for the set would have been useful; nonetheless, this encyclopedia provides a good starting point for students beginning to research Internet-related topics. Not as technical in nature and less expensive than the three-volume Internet Encyclopedia (Wiley, 2003), the set is recommended for undergraduate, public, and school libraries; even institutions that own the original single-volume edition will want to invest.-Colleen Cuddy, NYU Sch. of Medicine Lib., New York Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.