Tennessee Encyclopedia officially known asTennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture[1] is areference book on theU.S. state ofTennessee that was published in book form in 1998 and has also been available online since 2002. Contents includehistory,geography, culture, andbiography.
The original print edition was developed as aTennessee Historical Society educational project for the Tennessee statebicentennial in 1996. The idea of the encyclopedia was proposed in 1993 and work began the following year. TheTennessee General Assembly provided project funding infiscal years 1995 through 1998. Additional funding came from severalfoundations;Middle Tennessee State University provided some in-kind support.[2]
When the book was completed in 1998, it became the third stateencyclopedia to be published in the United States. The print edition (ISBN 1558535993 andISBN 978-1-55853-599-2) has 1193 pages containing 1,534 entries contributed by 514 authors.[2] It was a co-winner of a Tennessee History Book Award and was recognized with a 1999American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Award of Merit.[3][4]
An online edition of the encyclopedia has been on theInternet since 2002. It includes the contents of the book plus some new entries and somemultimedia content. The online edition is jointly produced and maintained by the Tennessee Historical Society and theUniversity of Tennessee Press.[2][5] Access to the full contents is free.[6] The online interface was revised and updated in February 2011.[7]
Editor for both the print and online versions isCarroll Van West, a Middle Tennessee State University history professor who is director of that university's Center for Historic Preservation.[3]Copyright to the contents of both the print and online versions is held by the Tennessee Historical Society.[6]