A short-lived venture from the American Booksellers Association and the Spectrum Database Corporation.

Heralding itself as "The New Illustrated Home Reference Guide", the ASE, published in 1991 and edited by Michael D. Harkavy, was created to be a concise one-volume work, for all of the average family's research needs. The encyclopedia contains over 17,000 entries and 3,800 color illustrations, as well as maps, star charts, and the usual encyclopedia fare. It originally retailed for $85.

From A to Zworykin, the encyclopedia runs 1,312 pages. While the need for an encyclopedia like this has been largely negated by the birth of Encarta and Wikipedia, it has had its uses in the past ten years when an internet-phobic teacher has required a set amount of paper sources.

Similar encyclopedias today include the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.