I remember them being a big help with History for example. I believe I read most of the encyclopedias I had at home (a couple of them totalling maybe 20 heavy b

I remember them being a big help with History for example. I believe I read most of the encyclopedias I had at home (a couple of them totalling maybe 20 heavy books). Now, when I want to learn about something, say acoustics, I go to the internet, back then I would go to the encyclopedia as a starting point and later to the library for more specific information. That's how it used to be.