Sources: Encyclopedia of Human Memory
Encyclopedia of Human Memory. Ed. by Annette Kujawski Taylor. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2013. 3 vols. acid free $294 (ISBN: 978-1-44-8-0025-2).
The Encyclopedia of Human Memory is a three-volume set comprised of entries on topics related to the study of human memory. In general, the signed entries are 1-2 pages long, with good illustrative graphics when appropriate. The 500 entries were written by 8 authors total, with most authors faculty in Universities. The editor, Annette Kujawski Taylor, a Professor of Psychology at the University of San Diego, authors many of the articles. As Professor Taylor's research interests are in teaching Psychology and student motivation, the fact that she authored many of the articles is a positive in that the writing is concise, consistent, informative, and instructional. The entries in Encyclopedia of Human Memory read like they belong in a well-written introductory textbook.
The entries clearly define and illustrate concepts, with related keywords and terms highlighted throughout, making the encyclopedia a good study aid for those new to the field or studying for exams. The coverage of terms reflects the content covered in introductory college courses in Psychology, and "aligns directly with the Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology curricula and standards for human memory by focusing on specific topics covered for the AP exam." (xxviii). The first volume offers useful guides to entries in different categories in memory; however, related topics within entries or "see also" suggestions would have been a positive addition.
The audience for this set is upper-level high school students and lower-level undergraduates, and the contents and style work well for those studying memory as an elective, or beginning psychology students. The choices of situations used to illustrate concepts are all well selected for undergraduates or high school students, such as how Kujawski Taylor uses listening to a lecture as an example of focused attention (487). The editor's choice to include web resources within the "Further Readings" section works well for the intended audience, in that readers may prefer to follow up entries with a quality web resource, rather than solely with academic books or scholarly articles.
The Encyclopedia of Human Memory is a positive addition and needed update to reference works covering the topic of memory in humans. In general, other reference works on memory tend to be much shorter, and only include brief entries, or have a specific focus within the topic of memory. Memory: From A to Z (2002, Oxford University Press), is an excellent resource, but it is only a single volume, and the style and content is best suited for upper-level undergraduates. The reference work that is most similar is The Encyclopedia of Memory and Memory Disorders (Facts on File, 2001), which is a good resource, but as it is a single volume, it does not have the depth of The Encyclopedia of Human Memory. The reviewed title, either in print or as an ebook, will complement any collection, even if the institution already has general Psychology reference works or other related Psychology reference titles. In testing of searching key concepts in memory against coverage in general Psychology titles, this author found that The Encyclopedia of Human Memory offers deeper coverage and contextualizes the concept in memory research much further. Also, other concepts that are not of general interest, but are important to the study of memory are not well represented in more general reference works in Psychology. In short, this title will improve search results or coverage represented in a print collection.
Highly Recommended for both high school or academic libraries, especially those with course offerings related to memory.—Shannon Pritting, Access & Resource Sharing Librarian, Syracuse University Libraries, Syracuse, New York