''Tennessee Encyclopedia'' is a

reference book A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to f ...

on the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

that was published in book form in 1998 and has also been available online since 2002. Contents include

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

, culture, and

biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

. The original print edition was developed as a

Tennessee Historical Society The Tennessee Historical Society is a historical society for the U.S. state of Tennessee. It was established in 1849. Its founding president from 1849 to 1856 was Nathaniel Cross, a Princeton-educated professor of Ancient Languages at the Universi ...

educational project for the Tennessee state

bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

in 1996. The idea of the encyclopedia was proposed in 1993 and work began the following year. The Tennessee General Assembly provided project funding in

fiscal year A fiscal year (or financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. Laws in many ...

s 1995 through 1998. Additional funding came from several

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

Middle Tennessee State University Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU or MT) is a public university in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Founded in 1911 as a normal school, the university consists of eight undergraduate colleges as well as a college of graduate studies, together off ...

provided some in-kind support.Foreword
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' website, accessed April 23, 2011 When the book was completed in 1998, it became the third state

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

to be published in the United States. The print edition ( and ) has 1193 pages containing 1,534 entries contributed by 514 authors. It was a co-winner of a Tennessee History Book Award and was recognized with a 1999

American Association for State and Local History The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is a non-profit association for state and local history, with a primary focus on history professionals, history volunteers, museums, historical societies, and other history-related organi ...

(AASLH) Award of Merit. An online edition of the encyclopedia has been on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

since 2002. It includes the contents of the book plus some new entries and some

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

content. The online edition is jointly produced and maintained by the Tennessee Historical Society and the

University of Tennessee Press The University of Tennessee Press is a university press associated with the University of Tennessee. UT Press was established in 1940 by the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees. The University of Tennessee Press issues about 35 books each ...

. Access to the full contents is free. The online interface was revised and updated in February 2011.UT Press Helps Produce Updated Online Tennessee Encyclopedia

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

press release, March 9, 2011 Editor for both the print and online versions is

Carroll Van West Carroll Van West is an American historian. He is the Tennessee State Historian and a professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University. He is the author or editor of several books about Montana and Tennessee. Early life Carroll Van West w ...

, a Middle Tennessee State University history professor who is director of that university's Center for Historic Preservation.Carroll Van West
MTSU Center for Historic Preservation website, accessed April 23, 2011

Copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, education ...

to the contents of both the print and online versions is held by the Tennessee Historical Society.Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
, Tennessee Historical Society website, accessed April 23, 2011

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

*
The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
' (online edition) 20th-century encyclopedias 21st-century encyclopedias American online encyclopedias Books published by university presses Encyclopedias of U.S. states History of Tennessee Tennessee culture