Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Directories Record Type: Review   ID: 1161
Encyclopedia of Occultism & Parapsychology (3rd ed.). (2 vols.) Shepard, Leslie A.
According to the Introduction, this third edition of the major encyclopedic work on parapsychological and occult topics has undergone major editing and revision. Although the format remains the same as the first two, "in essence every entry from the second edition has been researched again. In this process careful attention has been given to points made by readers and critics. Hundreds of new entries have been added and modifications have been made to the existing entries" (p. x). Spot-checking a few names with which I am familiar, I find that Margaret Anderson's entry has not been updated, in spite of major tributes in the Journal of Parapsychology and Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research. Rodger Anderson's entry is reasonably up to date. My own entry had been updated in a skewed manner. None of my articles in the Journal of Religion and Psychical Research and Christian Parapsychologist are mentioned. It is not noted that I have edited the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research since 1983. I am listed as managing editor of a publication I never heard of. Only the first of 5 bibliographies I have published in Advances in Parapsychological Research is mentioned. No mention is made that I was president of the Parapsychological Association in 1984 nor of a major paper in the 1985 Parapsychology Foundation conference proceedings. And the title given for the book I wrote with Michael Murphy is the working title, not the one under which it was published in 1978. Carlos Alvarado is not even included. If these examples are any indication, these volumes still have far to go. Systematic checking of the major parapsychology journals and conference proceedings would bring new names to light and provide excellent sources for updating these volumes. I hope there will be a 4th edition, and that these suggestions will be followed.
Publisher Information:	Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1991. 2,008p. Index: 1863-1965; Subject Index: 1967-2008

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