Encyclopedia Britannica is 250

[L Verge]

Funk & Wagnall's was my brand of encyclopedia and got me through many a class! When I was growing up in the late-40s and 50s, our elementary school had two sets of encyclopedias, and my high school (grades 7-12) maybe had one more. Needless to say, you could not take them home to do your homework, so a part of each paycheck went to the installment plan to get those valuable books.

The nearest public library was at least twenty miles away. We did have a book mobile (anyone remember those?) that came about every two weeks, but it specialized more in reading for entertainment. And, of course, encyclopedias took up shelf space that could house other books, and there was no study area on the "bus" to sit down and learn from those heavy old books.

At the present time, I am taking an online course for work entitled Generational Diversity -- basically learning to work with the younger generation (in my case, generationS). I am in the Mature category, but also have the same traits as Boomers and also some Xers, who have a strong work ethic, do not mind supervision and feedback, intend to work as long as they are able, and enjoy gaining knowledge from trustworthy sources.

And then we have the Millennials, where 80% or more of their learning has come from a television, a computer, or a Smartphone with little incentive to verify their information, wanting instant gratification and praise (and mainly praise, not correction), and plenty of time for relaxation and entertainment. If they have to work with others as a team, they will and can produce some great outcomes, but they would prefer to work one-on-one with their devices.

Try sitting through a two-hour divisional meeting now-a-days when 25-30 people are paying more attention to their phones and texting than to what the division leaders are trying to say -- and even some of them are texting away! Makes this old work horse want to pick up an encyclopedia and throw it at them...