Landmark encyclopedia project celebrates latest achievements (01/06/02)

Landmark encyclopedia project celebrates latest achievements

TORONTO - The Encyclopedia of Ukraine project - one of the most important and far-reaching scholarly projects ever undertaken by Ukrainian scholars in the West - has entered a new stage in its development. The project recently celebrated two significant achievements: the official launch of the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine (IEU) project, which ventures to generate the most comprehensive and easily accessible source of information in the English language on Ukraine and Ukrainians; and the prelude to the IEU, the publication of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Index and Errata - the final volume of the Encyclopedia's book edition.

The encyclopedia's latest achievements were celebrated at a special evening at the Ukrainian Canadian Art Foundation Gallery in Toronto on November 30, 2001; it was organized as part of the ongoing celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies (CIUS), which initiated the English-language Encyclopedia project in 1977.

The evening's master of ceremonies was Myron Dylynsky, vice-president of the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies, with which the CIUS has had a long-lasting and close relationship. He introduced each of the three speakers, who discussed the past, present and future of the encyclopedia project.

Roman Senkus, IEU managing editor and CIUS director of publications, presented an overview of the project's history within the context of the general history of Ukrainian encyclopedias. Andrij Makuch, IEU senior manuscript editor, discussed his work on the compilation of the Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Index and Errata. Dr. Marko R. Stech, IEU project manager and managing director of the CIUS Press, described the future prospects of the IEU and gave a visual presentation of the Internet site developed by the IEU team.

Encyclopedia index

The preparation of an index to the five-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine was initiated by its late editor-in-chief, Prof. Danylo Husar Struk. He recognized that the usefulness - and prestige - of this invaluable reference work would be further enhanced by such a publication. Prof. Struk laid down the general guidelines for the index, and the first major phase of compiling it was undertaken by Mr. Makuch. The index was then verified and proofread by Irène Popowycz at the West European Center of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Sarcelles, France. The final editing was done by Mr. Makuch.

The index provides a guide to individuals, civic and political groups, and select places, institutions and periodicals cited in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine. Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Index and Errata was published by the CIUS Press, and its preparation and publication were supported financially by the Canadian Foundation for Ukrainian Studies.

The index has an added value that was not foreseen at the time of its initiation. Its preparation represents the first major step in work now under way to develop an Internet version of the Encyclopedia.

Internet encyclopedia

The objective of the Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine project is to develop and continuously update and maintain a sophisticated and user-friendly Internet site containing the most comprehensive source of information in the English language on Ukraine - its history, people, geography, political economy, society, diaspora, and cultural and scientific heritage. The site will present tens of thousands of entries on a variety of subjects and include contributions from hundreds of leading specialists from around the world.

The IEU was initiated as a CIUS project by Mr. Senkus after Prof. Struk's untimely death in 1999. Work on the project began in earnest in January of this year. As the managing editor, Mr. Senkus is responsible for the content of the IEU website and coordinating the work of the subject editors, contributors and in-house editorial staff.

As the project manager, Dr. Stech is responsible for the long-term development and maintenance of the website, the coordination of the work of the computer programmers, and general technical management of the project. Under his supervision, the IEU test website has been designed by Jaroslaw and Walter Kiebalo; the site may be visited at www.encyclopediaofukraine.com.

As the IEU website is under construction and various aspects of the program are still being developed, only a few encyclopedia articles are displayed on the site, and they are used exclusively for testing the IEU's sophisticated search engine and linking functions. However, a large part of the programming work has already been completed, and the test site should give visitors a good idea as to what the IEU's capabilities will be.

In the long term, the IEU project will consist of two main stages of development. During stage 1 the initial IEU database will be created. It will contain the articles published in the five-volume Encyclopedia of Ukraine. The database of this publication (over 20,000 entries), which was stored in an outdated computer format, will be converted to a new format, corrected for mechanical errors, and then revised, updated and edited by the editorial staff before being adapted for Internet use and uploaded onto the IEU website.

In stage 2, a system for continuously updating and modernizing the database will be implemented. The editorial staff and subject editors will collect and process information systematically from a variety of sources in order to provide Internet users throughout the world with reliable, constantly revised and updated, and even previously inaccessible data reflecting the many developments and changes that have occurred and continue to occur in Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora. The final result of this process will represent the most definitive Internet information resource on Ukraine, fit to represent Ukraine and Ukrainians in the 21st century.

The IEU project is an ambitious, far-reaching and costly undertaking. Despite its commitment to the project, however, the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies is able to provide only a small portion of the financial resources needed for the normal operation of the IEU. The possibility of making this project a success, therefore, will depend on financial support from sponsors, donors and users.

For additional information on the IEU project and how this vital initiative can be transformed into reality, readers may contact: Encyclopedia of Ukraine, 1 Spadina Crescent, Room 109, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 2J5; telephone, (416) 978-6934; fax, (416) 978-2672; e-mail, [email protected].

Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Index and Errata, an indispensable addition to the Encyclopedia of Ukraine (five volumes, University of Toronto Press, 1984-1993), may be purchased until May 31 at a reduced price of $64.95 plus applicable taxes and postage; thereafter the price will be $74.95 plus taxes and postage. Orders and payment by check, Visa or Mastercard may be sent by post, fax, or e-mail to: CIUS Press, 450 Athabasca Hall, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2E8; telephone, (780) 492-2972, fax, (780) 492-4967; e-mail, [email protected].

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