Britannica Goes Wiki, Sort Of

The Encyclopedia Britannica is taking a leaf from Wikipedia's book by allowing experts and some readers to expand and update entries.

For all its faults, Wikipedia has become the online encyclopedia of choice for most people. Now its older, venerable colleague, the Encyclopedia Britannica, is borrowing one of Wikipedia’s ideas – after a fashion – by letting selected readers and experts maintain and update entries in its online version.

Also, some experts will be given “rewards” and helped to promote their knowledge, the BBC reports. But the encyclopedia is adamant that it won’t be open to letting just anyone make contributions and amendments.

In a blog, Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopedia Britannica wrote:

"We believe that the creation and documentation of knowledge is a collaborative process but not a democratic one."

Far more users will be allowed to use materials from Britannica to create their own works, which will be feature on the new Britannica Online site, but only the official goods will carry the “Britannica Checked” stamp.

The new Britannica site is under a redesign, with a beta now available.

The move comes at an interesting time, just as Wikipedia is considering going the other way, according to Vnunet. It’s been testing a system called Flagged Response in Germany, under which registered contributors could make instant changes to the site, with others checked before going live, a reaction which has raised howls from a few users. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has asked them to come up with alternatives, which would then be put to the Wikipedia membership.