The latest staple of our childhoods to bit the dust is the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica. So farewell, Britannica, we're glad we knew you...

According to the news I heard, they actually haven't published a new printed set since 2010, but will continue to provide their content to subscribers -- but in an online-only version.

I'm sure this makes sense, but it is a bit mind-blowing. How many of us - as grade schoolers -- got sent to the school library to learn how to do research by writing a report on a topic assigned to us by our teachers? Use of the venerable "EB" as a major report-writing resource was sort of a rite of passage into the upper grades, as I recall.

And how many of our parents were visited by a traveling salesman who sold them on buying a set of encyclopedia for the home? In my case, my parents fell prey to the Grolier "Book of Knowledge" salesman. I recall we had a nice bookcase the books all fit into. And we got annual updates - yearbooks, I guess they were - to keep us up on the latest in information technology.

My teachers weren't always as excited about my use of the BK for my reports, but according to Amazon it looks like it is still available, though I can't quite determine if it is current. Might be the 2006 edition.

My kids still referenced encyclopedias as a first information-gathering step toward report-writing. Though we DID make trips to the library for other resource material.

I wonder how long these heavy tomes will be used for their original purpose? I can imagine a time when they become relegated to weights -- something to be used to press flowers or as easy-to-grab exercise equipment?

After all, another famed (mostly female) use of Britannica volumes was to help us learn to stand and walk tall -- while wearing a volume of the book on our heads!