Gale - Macmillan Reference USA

The current imprint of Macmillan Reference USA goes back to the larger Macmillan Publishing Company, which for much of the 20th century was one of the premier American publishing houses. It published noteworthy references such as the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, the Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences and the Encyclopedia of Bioethics.

In the early 1980s Macmillan created the Professional Books Division and began preparing two major award-winning works: the Encyclopedia of the American Constitution and the Encyclopedia of Religion. By 1992, after another name change, Macmillan Reference was publishing several multi-volume encyclopedias each year in the area of the humanities and also expanded into the hard sciences curriculum.

By the mid-1990s it became clear that high school libraries were looking for reference materials written specifically for students and Macmillan responded by developing two- and four-color works on topics covered in the high school curriculum. Throughout the 1990s, Macmillan continued to produce award-winning sets that have consistently garnered the highest praise from critics and users alike.

Today, as a part of Gale, Macmillan Reference USA enjoys new opportunities for growth along with the same commitment to quality that has made the Macmillan name a by-word for excellence in the library market.

Frank Menchaca is executive vice president of Macmillan Reference USA. He can be reached at frank.menchaca@cengage.com.