FAQ

When will the complete Encyclopedia of Milwaukee be available?

We are rolling out new content for the Encyclopedia every weekday.

Who will publish a print edition of the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee?

The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee will be available in both digital and print form. The print version is under contract with Northern Illinois University Press.

How long will building the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee take?

The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee is projected as a decade-long project.

We started work on the EMKE in 2008. In 2010-2011, we won seed funding from UWM’s Graduate School. In 2013, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded UWM $250,000, which kicked the project into high gear. We are now in the phase of the project where we are steadily rolling out content; images will be added later as staffing allows.

Who is creating the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee?

The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee is a collaborative project ultimately involving faculty, writers, student researchers, IT professionals, and other staff. The Lead Editors responsible for coordinating the project are Professors Amanda I. Seligman and Margo Anderson of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Department of History and Urban Studies Programs. For more information about participants, please see our People page.

How can I get involved in the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee?

We are grateful to learn about people’s enthusiasm for the project. The easiest way to stay current about the project is to read our blog and LIKE our Facebook page. If you would like to be considered for a writing assignment, please send a note of inquiry and your qualifications to Amanda Seligman at seligman@uwm.edu. We occasionally can make use of volunteers, but due to our small staff size we cannot offer consistent volunteer opportunities. If you would like to be notified when we have need of volunteers, please write to Dr. Seligman.

Do other cities have encyclopedias like this?

Some cities do. The oldest American urban history encyclopedia is the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. The Encyclopedia of New York City, The Encyclopedia of Chicago, and Los Angeles A to Z cover America’s biggest cities. Louisville, Kentucky, and Indianapolis, Indiana are two other US cities with their own encyclopedia. Scholars at Rutgers University-Camden are constructing The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Cities overseas with their own encyclopedias include London, Melbourne, and Singapore.

Why are some footnotes live links and in other ones the URL is spelled out?

Spelled out URLs are unsightly but serve a purpose. When a link is no longer good, it may still be possible to locate an archived version of the page that it once pointed to. For example, the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine has captured and stored sample pages from many websites for many years. Some web pages are updated after the time when the author researched its contents. Readers should take note of the access date provided in the citation.

Our practice is to provide a clickable link for citations that work at the time of posting and to spell out URLs for dead links. However, it is possible that links that were once live will become inaccessible after posting. If you notice a dead link that is supposed to be clickable, please use the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee Contact page to let us know about it.

How should I cite a particular entry of the Encyclopedia of Milwaukee?

The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, 14.234, recommends inclusion of the following elements in citations to particular entries in reference works: author, name of entry, name of project, editors of project, host institution, date, and URL. If you wanted to cite the EMKE entry on the Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council in a bibliography, it should look like this: