"On the
Britannica.com site, the comprehensive encyclopedia will form
the basis of a new paid premium service designed for everyone
who needs in-depth information of the highest quality" said
Ilan Yeshua, Chief Executive Officer of Britannica.com Inc.
"Later in the year other databases, such as video clips and an
encyclopedia for students in grades five through nine, will be
added to the premium service. The new version of the site
being released this month will also provide additional ways
for users to navigate the information in the Encyclopaedia
Britannica, such as topical browsing and a map browser. The
subscription service will be free of banner and pop-up
advertising."
 4,000 revised articles and 500 new
ones
Yeshua
continued, "The Encyclopaedia Britannica is an unparalleled
reference work, and it's revised constantly by some of the
best editors in the world. In the past year alone we have
revised more than 4,000 articles and added more than 500 new
ones online. We are investing heavily in the content of the
encyclopedia to stay on the cutting edge of knowledge and
scholarship-revising articles, commissioning new ones, and
making sure the Britannica is always fresh, engaging and up to
date. We're going to provide a real value-added service, a
place where people can find reference content of the highest
quality from a range of sources, and we're going to develop
tools to make the information you need easier than ever to
find."
For people who
primarily need quick, concise facts at their fingertips, the
Britannica.com site will continue to offer a range of free
sources to meet the need for basic reference. At the time fees
for the full encyclopedia take effect, the opening paragraphs
of all encyclopedia articles will be made available free,
giving non-subscribers access to introductions, overviews and
basic facts. Features that will continue to be free include
Britannica's Internet Guide, a directory of valuable Web sites
selected and reviewed by Britannica.com's editors; an archive
of recent news articles; and selected articles from top
magazines. Other information sources, such as a new online
encyclopedia for looking up quick facts, will become part of
the free service later in the year.
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Larger fonts and recent news
archive added
Both the free
and premium services of the streamlined Britannica.com site
include enhancements that its publishers believe will make
them more useful for general reference and research. The text
of encyclopedia, magazine and news articles now appears in
larger fonts that can be adjusted by the user; an archive of
recent news articles has been added; and Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate® Thesaurus has joined the Collegiate Dictionary on
the site.
The redesign of
Britannica.com is part of a larger move by the Britannica
companies to refocus on their traditional strengths in
reference, education and learning and to develop multiple
revenue sources by combining subscription-supported services,
free services, and products sold at retail and through other
channels. Britannica.com will continue to sell site licenses
for its Britannica Online
reference service to educational institutions and
subscriptions for BritannicaSchool
, an integrated
suite of teaching and learning tools, to schools in grades
K-12. Additional CD-ROM and DVD products are also planned.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. will publish a revised printing
of the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica this fall and
introduce new printed products in the near
future.
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