The Liminal Librarian

So, the Encyclopaedia Britannica accepted my application the other day. I guess this means I’m a real blog! Unfortunately, they have no entry for “liminal,” so I thought I’d look up “Wikipedia,” just for kicks. (If this works as advertised, you all should be able to read that without subscribing; I haven’t yet played with their little widgets.)

It’s always fascinated me how encyclopedias portray the competition. Back in the dark ages when mfpow owned both the Grolier’s and Encarta CD-ROMs, we could amuse ourselves on a slow day at the reference desk by looking up topics like “Microsoft” and noting the interesting slant of each source. (Surprisingly enough, Grolier’s would emphasize topics like lawsuits and monopolies, while Encarta’s entry made little mention.)