Baird's Manual of Fraternities and Sororities

[naraht]

Originally Posted by 33girl

They would have to reduce the price to 2.5 cents because the word is out that the last edition is a piece of poo, full of errors, lacking updates and omitting tons of info that was in the previous edition.

I think the thought of updating with all the multicultural and other GLOs that have sprung up is not something that the old guard wants to tackle.

I know some people who would by the 1991 edition at $5.00. (I figure the Shipping and Handling would double the cost) I own the 1920, 1923, 1968 and 1991 versions (I think).

Part of the reason that I'd be interested in a new version is that I've found that it is *very* difficult for some fraternities and sororities to get a straight answer on where they currently have *in*active chapters.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by naraht

Part of the reason that I'd be interested in a new version is that I've found that it is *very* difficult for some fraternities and sororities to get a straight answer on where they currently have *in*active chapters.

?? Re the bolded: Are you saying some fraternities and sororities don't know where they have inactive chapters, or that they are unwilling to make it easy for others to find where they have inactive chapters? If it's the latter, a Baird's or similar book is only going to be as good as the information supplied to the editors, and it may be out of date by the time its published. If it's the former, then those GLOs have bigger problems to deal with.

I suspect 33girl is right that Greekdom is just too big and varied now for something like an updated Baird's to be as accurate or comprehensive as it should be. And with what's available on the internet, it probably isn't worth the effort.

[naraht]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

?? Re the bolded: Are you saying some fraternities and sororities don't know where they have inactive chapters, or that they are unwilling to make it easy for others to find where they have inactive chapters? If it's the latter, a Baird's or similar book is only going to be as good as the information supplied to the editors, and it may be out of date by the time its published. If it's the former, then those GLOs have bigger problems to deal with.

I suspect 33girl is right that Greekdom is just too big and varied now for something like an updated Baird's to be as accurate or comprehensive as it should be. And with what's available on the internet, it probably isn't worth the effort.

The latter, but that having the NIC ask for it and having the results in something as well known as Baird's *might* be enough to cause them to research it (if needed) and give an answer. In addition, for some fraternities and sororities, finding founding dates for chapters can be very difficult. This is also likely to be requested as part of Data for Baird's.

For example, since I spent some frustrating time helping a sister of Delta Sigma Theta create Wikipedia page of them... I'll pay $10 on the spot for a referenceable complete list of all of the Delta Sigma Theta undergraduate chapters (active and inactive) and what year they were created. I have a very low expectation of getting such a thing (though I'll be interested to see what sort of information is in the program at the centennial) *but* if they were to put out a new version of Baird's, there would be a good chance of getting that information. (The current wikipedia page contains that information for all chapters 1976 and prior since the list in the 1991 Baird's (which I own) is repeated from 1976)

I agree with 33girl on that point as well...

[oldu]

Why is it so much more difficult to get chapter information from NPHC organizations? Most of the groups simply don't list it. In doing some research on a specific campus I found several cases where a chapter name has been re-given. Is this a common practice? I can see how difficult the project would be; however, if a request from a respectable organization about to publish an updated Baird's surely each group would want to be as accurate as possible.

[NutBrnHair]

I do seem to recall that not very many copies of the 1990 edition were sold. They published tons of them and were stuck. I agree that it wasn't the best issue and so that fact, coupled with a high price just didn't cut it. I can see why anyone would be wary of publishing a new edition.