Encyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for "British Encyclopaedia") is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles in the Britannica are aimed at educated adult readers, and written by a staff of about 100 full-time editors and over 4,000 expert contributors. It is widely regarded as the most scholarly of encyclopaedias.[1] It is now an online encyclopedia, with the 2010 version of the 15th edition stated to have been the last printed edition.
Contents
History
The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopaedia still in print.[2] It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in Edinburgh, Scotland and quickly grew in popularity and size, with its third edition in 1801 reaching over 21 volumes.[3] Its rising stature helped in recruiting eminent contributors, and the 9th edition (1875–1889) and the 11th edition (1911) are regarded as landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style.[3] Beginning with the 11th edition, the Britannica gradually shortened and simplified its articles in order to broaden its North American market.[3] In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt a "continuous revision" policy, in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted and every article is updated on a regular schedule.
The 15th edition has a unique three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles (generally having fewer than 750 words), a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles (having from two to 310 pages) and a single Propædia volume intended to give a hierarchical outline of human knowledge. The Micropædia is meant for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the Macropædia; readers are advised to study the Propædia outline to understand a subject's context and to find other, more detailed articles.[4] The size of the Britannica has remained roughly constant over the past 70 years, with about 40 million words on half a million topics.[5] Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has maintained its traditional British spelling.[1]
Over the course of its history, the Britannica has had difficulty remaining profitable—a problem faced by many encyclopaedias.[2] Some articles in certain earlier editions of the Britannica have been criticised for inaccuracy, bias or unqualified contributors.[3] The accuracy in parts of the present edition has likewise been questioned,[1] although such criticisms have been challenged by the Britannica's management. Despite these criticisms, the Britannica retains its reputation as a reliable research tool.
See also
- Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
- Wikipedia: Evaluations - On a 2005 widely published comparison with Wikipedia.
External links
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kister, KF (1994). Kister's Best Encyclopedias: A Comparative Guide to General and Specialized Encyclopedias, 2nd ed., Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press. ISBN 0897747445.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Encyclopedias and Dictionaries". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (15th edition ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.. 2007. pp. 257–286.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Kogan, Herman (1958). The Great EB: The Story of the Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- ↑ (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Propædia, 5–8.
- ↑ (2007) The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition, Index preface.
