Encyclopedia of Religion, Communication, and Media

Reference works continue to throw up an interesting challenge, almost a paradox: the more customized or purpose‐built they are (say to particular fields, above all cross‐disciplinary fields), the more useful they seem to be; and yet at the same time, the more likely they are to cannibalize on existing knowledge and represent an eccentric mix of topics “yoked by violence together” (that famous definition of metaphysical poetry) destined for speedy obsolescence. This dilemma, if it is one, seems to be compounded by the idiosyncrasies of the context for which any customized reference work might be intended and from which it...