Comments for Britannica Wants to Be More Like Wikipedia: Lets Users Contribute

Britannica Wants to Be More Like Wikipedia: Lets Users Contribute

2009-01-22T17:49:49Z

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the venerable Encyclopedia Britannica is about to open ups its articles to edits by its users. Jorge Cauz, Britannica's president, tells the SMH that readers will soon be able to make edits to existing articles and create their own content. These updates, however, will be vetted by Britannica's staff, which hopes to review every edit within 20 minutes.

Britannica is trying to a take a hybrid approach which combines Britannica's editorial expertise with Wikipedia's principles of transparency and openness.

]]> Why Wikipedia Does Better on Google

In the interview with the SMH, Jorge Cauze also bemoaned that Google's search results consistently ranked Wikipedia higher than his own Britannica. The reason for this, however, is simple: you need to be a subscriber to get access to the full content of the Encylopedia Britannica. If you are not, the site will constantly pester you with overlay ads for its premium membership and only give you access to a limited range of features. Given a choice, most writers will link to the free Wikipedia instead of the Britannica, which, in turn, enhances Wikipedia's standing in Google's index.

There are many reasons why Wikipedia trumped Britannica on the Internet. For one, Britannica took a long time to open up to the Internet, which gave Wikipedia a chance to become the de-facto Internet encyclopedia.

Difference in Quality?

As for the actual difference in quality between the two sites, that question still remains to be answered. A 2005 study in Nature concluded that Wikipedia (at that time) was about as a good a source as Britannica, but the study was heavily criticized by Britannica (see Nature's rebuttal of Britannica's rebuttal for more details about the discussion).

Britannica Can't Scale

In the end, however, whenever somebody discovers a mistake in the Wikipedia, those edits can be made public within seconds. Currently, the Wikipedia sees more than 150,000 legitimate edits pre day. The most active Wikipedia users have made over 200,000 edits. There is simply no way for Britannica's editors to approve this many edits - the process simply wouldn't scale unless they hired a lot of highly qualified (and fast) editors.

Comment from Mohammad Al-Ubaydli on 2009-01-25

2009-01-26T01:39:14Z

Why would anyone volunteer to help a commercial organization that keeps the copyright of your contribution? Am I right that you would need to pay Britannica to continue to access your contribution? I believe Microsoft tried a similar experiment earlier with Encarta but there was little uptake. You cannot expect the community to give without giving it something first.

Comment from Stevenson on 2009-01-24

2009-01-24T09:20:50Z

Britannica never thought that an open source product like Wikipedia would seriously challenge the credibility of its brand. They were wrong and Encyclopaedia Britannica's staff seriously misread the global market. They are now very concerned about the widespread use of a free Wikipedia vs their paid subscription model From a corporate and financial perspective, Encyclopaedia Britannica is in serious trouble.

It will be interesting to see if Encyclopaedia Britannica survives, but recent indications do not look good. It is the combination of a) the success of Wikipedia and b) improved search engines that has put financial pressure on Encyclopedia Britannica over recent years. Many libraries, schools & individuals are questioning the need to pay for sets of expensive books, or to subscribe to Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, when the content is free on the internet, and often much more comprehensive.

Comment from Tim on 2009-01-23

2009-01-23T14:15:12Z

How much actual original research goes in to something like the Encyclopedia Britannica? There's a reason why the OED is still the foremost authority among dictionaries.

Comment from S Stevenson on 2009-01-22

2009-01-23T05:16:53Z

Comment from Bill on 2009-01-22

2009-01-23T04:04:23Z

"Wikipedia needs someone to at least really try and challenge them. "

www.Citizendium.org

Comment from Berci Mesko on 2009-01-22

2009-01-22T18:56:01Z

Great post, thank you for sharing this.

Of course, who would like to pledge time and effort to a project that can ignore your work in a second? Wikipedia is unbeatable from this aspect.

Comment from Steven Finch on 2009-01-22

2009-01-22T18:54:42Z

Might want to check the spelling on Sydney. But apart from that this is great news. Wikipedia needs someone to at least really try and challenge them.