Almanacs go to press without presidential winner

In this story: Turning to the Internet 'Cliff-hanger' hook RELATED SITES

by Lili Ladaga
CNN Interactive Writer

(CNN) -- If you're looking for the score of the 1976 Super Bowl, crime statistics for Fargo, North Dakota, or simply a complete copy of the Declaration of Independence, you can look it up in your trusty encyclopedia or almanac.

But if you want to know who won the 2000 presidential election, you're going to have to look somewhere else.

Last week, with deadlines approaching and an uncertain election result, publishers of annual publications found themselves between a ballot box and a hard place.

The World Book Encyclopedia sells roughly 100,000 sets of encyclopedias every year and is committed to delivering 50,000 sets by Christmas. But information about the incoming president is listed in 15 of 22 volumes.

Since there was no winner in sight at the time of printing, World Book Inc. plans to print a separate, 160-page volume after the election is resolved, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Many top almanac publishers are turning to the Internet to bridge the information gap.

"The World Almanac 2001," which hits bookstores this week, contains more than 80 pages of election coverage and includes a Web site where readers can get the most up-to-date election news.

Ken Park of World Almanac Books, the publisher of "The World Almanac," printed the 2001 edition on schedule last week. Park and his staff decided against waiting for election results because "millions of readers don't need 'The World Almanac' to learn the name of the president," he said.

It marks the first time in 133 years that an election-year edition of the almanac has been published without knowing who was the presidential winner, according to Park.

In "The New York Times Almanac 2001," only one page was affected by the Florida recount. Penguin USA, the almanac's publisher, went to print last week with the latest election news at the time. The book directs readers to The New York Times Web site for current election information.

Jane von Mehren of Penguin said the publisher went ahead with the 2001 edition after it became clear the recount issue wouldn't be resolved in a matter of days. "Once the election is resolved," she said, "we'll reprint the almanac with an updated page."

Information Please, which publishes an almanac with the editors of Time magazine, delayed going to print by one day in hopes of a final result, but was forced to proceed due to printing deadlines.

Borgna Brunner, the Information Please editor, used the uncertain election results as a "cliff-hanger" hook for "The Time Almanac 2001: With Information Please."

The editors also created several electoral maps with various scenarios; one in which Al Gore was the winner, one in which George W. Bush won. A note was added in the election section, pointing out to readers that results were not final and were up-to-date at the time of printing.

Brunner, for one, is pleased the recount issued was not resolved quickly. "If the election controversy had been resolved in a day or two," she said, "the almanac would have merely looked incomplete." But as the election process dragged on, it provided publishers with the unique opportunity to record history as it was happening, she observed.

Penguin USA
Information Please
World Almanac
World Book

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