Britannica Encyclopedia Takes a Bold Step
by Gerald Trites

Since the advent of the web, Encyclopedia Britannica has been under pressure to adapt. The web made information very available to many people, and there were predictions of the demise of traditional printed encyclopediae. It seemed obvious that Britannica would have to change their business model. To their credit, they tried several web models, They put all their content on their website and for a time made it available for free. Then they tried requiring users to subscribe, which they still do, charging a nominal amount. People found they could obtain most of the information they need through the web, however, using search engines like Google. So traditional Encyclapediae did in fact decline in use, and many of them disappeared. Britannica, however, survived.

Then along came Wikipedia, the web based encyclopedia maintained by whomever wanted to update its articles, albeit with some monitoring. At first, a widespread opinion was that Wikipedia could never be a credible alternative to traditional encyclopediae, with their panels of highly recognized authors and extensive review procedures. However studies, such as one published in the British Journal 'Nature' in December, 2005, that the content of Wikipedia measured up to that of Britannica.

And so the pressure has continued on Britannica to re-evaluate its business model as well as the very model at the core of its being - its content model.

Now, Britannica, as explained in an article on the BBC site, has made a bold move by allowing selected contributors and readers to make changes to their articles on their website. While they haven't gone as far as Wikipedia, they nevertheless have made a significant change and likely this wil be a step in a continuum as usage of the Web for finding information and knowledge continues to evolve.