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Encyclopedia of information science and technology (2nd ed.)
Khosrow-Pour M., Information Science Reference - Imprint of: IGI Publishing, Hershey, PA, 2008. 5270 pp. Type: Book (9781605660264)
Date Reviewed: Sep 28 2009

The first edition of this encyclopedia was published in 2005, comprised nearly 3,800 pages in five volumes, and included 554 articles [1]. This second edition consists of eight volumes, runs to over 5,000 pages, and includes over 650 peer-reviewed articles, from over 1,200 contributors. Each of the eight volumes has a list of contributors and a keyword index; the contents are arranged by category. The intended audience includes students, educators, researchers, and practitioners. The publisher provides complimentary online access for libraries that own a hard copy of the encyclopedia.

Arranged in alphabetical order, the articles in the encyclopedia are classified under the following categories: artificial intelligence (AI), bioinformatics, business information systems, cognitive informatics, data mining and databases, electronic business, electronic commerce, electronic government, environmental informatics, global information technology (IT), health information systems, high-performance computing, human aspects of technology, industrial informatics, IT education, IT security and ethics, knowledge management, library science, medical technologies, mobile and wireless computing, multimedia technology, networking and telecommunication, social computing, software and systems design, user-centered technologies, and Web technologies. Each article is about six pages long, and includes an introduction, future trends, conclusion, references, and key terms.

Sometimes, the categorization does not aid the reader looking for certain articles--for example, the “Security for electronic commerce” article is classified under IT security and not electronic commerce. Also, some of the diagrams and tables lack clarity and sharpness. While the second edition includes some articles from the first edition, many new articles and topics have been added, although it is unclear which articles were added or improved.

Considering the fact that there are over 1,000 contributors, producing such a massive encyclopedia is not a trivial task. The inclusion of an introduction, future trends, conclusion, references, and key terms for each article is a helpful feature, especially for novices and students. Corporate, academic, and research libraries will find the encyclopedia a useful resource, despite the high degree of obsolescence in the information science and technology fields. Despite its high cost, I strongly recommend the encyclopedia as a library resource.

Reviewer:  S. V. Nagaraj Review #: CR137326 (1007-0641)
1) Khosrow-Pour, M. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of information science and technology (5 vols.). Idea Group Reference, Hershey, PA, 2005.
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