The Encyclopaedia Britannica - first published back in the 1700s and still widely used by academia - has launched in the form of a new online version through which the public can edit and contribute data.
The encyclopedia, available at Britannica.com, takes a Wikipedia-like approach but promises to remain true to itself by ensuring each-and-every public contribution is vetted by its 4,000-odd expert contributers. Once approved, public contributions will appear separately to Britannica's own in-house-generated content, but do stand a chance of being published in the next edition of the printed version.
In an effort to distinguish itself as a more professional alternative to the hugely-popular Wikipedia, Britannica's all-new website will display a detailed history of article changes, including those who made them. There are also plans to introduce an article rating system, and the ability for readers to ask questions to existing contributors.
Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica, highlighted the strength of the competing Wikipedia service by stating that "the reader is not only going to learn from reading the article but by modifying the article and - importantly - by maybe creating his own content or her own content."
Although unlikely to ever match the vast quantity of content available on Wikipedia - currently 12 million articles and counting - Britannica hopes to offer a factual alternative that it believes will remain popular in the academic market.
Link: Britannica.com
