WITH THE RISE of the Internet in the Nineties almost all observers forecast the demise of the encyclopaedia business. How could heavy bound volumes that cost thousands compete with the free, searchable and almost unlimited information available on the web? Fast-forward 15 years and the original encyclopaedia – Britannica – has not only adapted but is thriving.<\/p>\n
Encyclopaedia Britannica’s strongest selling point against the likes of Wikipedia is that the information it supplies is credible (they have Nobel laureates and academics contributing), that their entries are fact-checked and – significantly – unbiased. Clearly, bias will always exist. However, compared to the majority of Internet information where the source is as important as the content, Britannica does a good job of finding the middle ground.<\/p>\n
The 2009 edition’s DVD also includes a year’s free access to Britannica Online and content updates. Though its 75 000 articles (complemented by 160 000 more links and magazine articles online) can’t compete with Wikipedia’s 2m plus, the fact that the package has three different interfaces and libraries – small children, school goers and advanced – ensures you find the appropriate content quickly. Child friendliness is its strongest suite.<\/p>\n
Its timelines feature, as well as its clickable atlas, is well crafted and considering the often-chaotic nature of web information (and the amount of time it takes to sift through it), its Book of the Year feature is very handy. You can explore notable events in 10 500 articles covering science, politics, sports and more from 1993 to 2007. Hopefully, that will be further extended in future.<\/p>\n
One disappointment is its limited multimedia content featured on the disk itself; but online there’s more. The price is around R500 for the deluxe edition and for that you get Sudoku software thrown in. If you can’t find it in stores go to www.phoenixsoftware.co.za.<\/p>\n