Saturday, January 24, 2009

Britannica loosening up...








Earlier today, news came out about what would be quite a big move on the side of the sandstone Encyclopedia Britannica that it will be reaching out to the web in an attempt to catch up with its biggest contender, Wikipedia.

This comes as an interesting move due to that Britannica has lost much of its reach due to that it had not brought itself to the web in a way that was string enough so as to maintain its position. In this move, it has changed many of the things that it had been criticizing about Wikipedia in terms of user contribution and its impact on thee quality. Although the argument was proven to not be as valid as Wikipedia attackers would claim as brought forward by a study conducted a few years ago. The study showed that there was an average of 2.92 mistakes per article for Britannica and only 3.86 for Wikipedia. Therefore, Wikipedia through its later introduced accuracy and quality checks have brought its standards very close to that of Britannica.

However, it is important to note that although Britannica is reaching out to users and user content online, it is still not doing it the same way as Wikipedia does it. They are setting up a model where selected users are asked to contribute and there will be clear marking of which entries are officially produced by Britannica so as to differentiate them from entries made by the selected users. The President of Britannica explains that their belief that through Britannica online, the "creation and documentation of knowledge is a collaborative process but not a democratic one."

Will this pose a serious threat for Wikipedia's online dominance?

Well, it might very well do. Many of us still do believe that although Wikipedia is a convenient source of information, we still question its quality (although not significant statistically as I mentioned previously). Therefore if Britannica manages to make its presence as user friendly as that of Wikipedia then it would definitely make its online presence a significant one, leaving less of the online market to Wikipedia.

Will this mean the demise of Wikipedia?

Probably not. I would expect that Wikipedia using a combination of its strong online brand, better public relations and continuous improvement to make sure its keeps its presence. However, will the non-profit Wikipedia foundation be able to do much of that through the donations it currently collects annually? Will it still the need for it to exist when Britannica becomes stronger on the Internet? or will it insist on seeing that knowledge is made available for free and that it is created through a democratic model rather than an a "collaborative model"?

If you want to try it out, Britannica offers a 7 day free trial to its online version...



3 comments:

  1. In strategy workshops this Britannica example is used very often to show what happens when your strategy doesn't keep up with the changes in society.
    Reading your article it seems like the Britannica people have finally got it, but they are taking baby steps.
    When i checked it out, i found out you have to subscribe and pay for Britannica, which means they didn't take baby steps, they took teeny tiny baby steps - turtle steps.
    The fact that it's not free will definitely have a big impact on its usability.
    I use wikipedia when i have any random question about anything, i use it to know when my latest TV shows are coming out, episode summaries and release dates, i use it for historical questions, medical reasons, and whatever question pops in my head.
    When i want more accurate information i click on the external links they provide.
    I have no motivation whatsoever to shift to something else where especially if i have to pay.
    I say for Britannica, this is too little, too late!

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  3. It is also important to note that Britannica did not only start being behind now...but it all started when Microsoft launched its Encarta CDs, that is when they started slipping...

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