 The entire 32-volume set of
the Encyclopedia Britannica has been placed on the Internet
free of charge. The publishers of the 231-year-old reference
tome announced this recently. A new company named Britannica.com,
has been started by the publisher and the site www.britannica.com
(also www.eb.com) carries the entire material.
The encyclopedia, which runs into 32 volumes, sells for
about $1,250 in book form. The company will continue with
its compact printed and disc versions. In fact, the company
plans to publish a new 40-volume set of the encyclopedia.
The offer on the Web reflects acceptance of the fact that
the Internet is the new medium for information and knowledge
dissemination. The new company will be supported by advertising
revenue from the site. The Chicago-based company entered
the CD and online markets later than
others, and priced its product higher than some other
computer-driven encyclopedias.
"This is a momentous day for knowledge seekers everywhere,"
said Don Yannias, chief executive of Britannica.com. "Purchasing
Encyclopedia Britannica was once a major milestone in
a family''s life, but today we are fulfilling our promise
to make it more accessible to more people worldwide,"
he added.
The site also carries news feeds from newspapers and news
wires around the world, selected articles from more than
70 popular magazines like Esquire, Sports Illustrated,
and
The Economist; and a searchable directory of the Web''s
best sites, chosen by Britannica''s editors.
About the company:
Encyclopedia Britannica was the brainchild of
three Scotsmen, and was first issued in 100 parts from
1768 to 1771 in Edinburgh, Scotland. It bought and added
materials from distinguished scholars and authors like
Thomas Malthus, Sir Walter Scott, Sigmund Freud, Albert
Einstein, G.K. Chesterton, and George Bernard Shaw.
It was acquired by Chicago-based Sears, Roebuck and Co
in the early 1900s and by William Benton, retired co-founder
of the advertising firm Benton and Bowles, in the 1940s.
In 1995 the company was taken over by a Swiss businessman
named Jacob Safra. It was valued then at about $500 million.
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