This is the full version of the plan presented to the SABR Board of Directors on February 19, 2009 to create a new SABR Encyclopedia that is encyclopedic in a traditional sense - with articles covering every aspect of the history of baseball. The needs the project attempts to address and the summary are here, and you can find the rest of the plan using the menu. The plan was developed by Ted Turocy, SABR's Data Czar and staff member Peter Garver, and makes occasional references to us. The plan was approved by the board in late March for development, with progress to be reviewed at the next board meeting. The Encyclopedia update blog is also on this site.

Needs

This project attempts to address the following:

1. The need to allow SABR's many isolated "stores" of research to be available in one place, connected and easy to view and search
2. The need for all of the research to be searchable in whatever way is appropriate for that particular information
3. The need to lower the barrier to entry for making a meaningful contribution to baseball research, and for making completed research available
4. The need for SABR to have an electronic outlet to facilitate the Society's objectives of preserving baseball history and disseminating authoritative baseball research

Project Description

This project envisions reinventing the SABR Online Encyclopedia as an encyclopedia in the general sense of the word -- a repository of introductory articles on every notable person, place, and event in the history of baseball. Like any good encyclopedia, the SABR Online Encyclopedia will be the "first stop" for anyone wanting to learn more about a particular baseball-related topic. Articles will combine narrative, tables of statistical and other data, photos, audio and video to provide an overview of each subject, with references and links to primary and secondary sources for further information.

The Encyclopedia will complement SABR's existing organizational structure and publication program. Encyclopedia articles are topic overviews, and not a primary outlet for in-depth research; the role of books, journals, and research committee newsletters, which cover topics in much greater depth, will not be diminished by the development of the Encyclopedia. The Encyclopedia will serve as a central portal to these areas of SABR's knowledge base, which is currently housed in various disconnected databases, websites, and archives. Encyclopedia articles will feature links to relevant articles and books, both SABR-published and other, convenient links for searching publicly-available resources such as The Baseball Index for more information, and links to both public resources and ones restricted to SABR members.

The Encyclopedia will provide a platform for disseminating authoritative information on baseball while lowering the barriers to entry for beginning researchers to make meaningful contributions. This balance will be struck by providing an easy interface for all members to propose updates and changes to articles. A cadre of editors will be responsible for reviewing updates before publication, with a primary focus on ensuring a uniform set of good practices and editorial style are in place throughout the Encyclopedia. This process will balance bringing the considerable expertise of thousands of members of the Society to bear in writing the story of baseball with maintaining a level of quality and uniformity of the product that will reflect well on the image of the Society in the community at large.