After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses From the NY Times: After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print. Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered sets of reference books that were once sold door to door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, the company is expected to announce on Wednesday. In a nod to the realities of the digital age — and, in particular, the competition from the hugely popular Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools, company executives said. The last edition of the encyclopedia will be the 2010 edition, a 32-volume set that weighs in at 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project. “It’s a rite of passage in this new era,” Jorge Cauz, the president of Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., a Chicago-based company, said in an interview. “Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.”

After 244 Years, Encyclopaedia Britannica Stops the Presses

From the NY Times:

After 244 years, the Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print.

Those coolly authoritative, gold-lettered sets of reference books that were once sold door to door by a fleet of traveling salesmen and displayed as proud fixtures in American homes will be discontinued, the company is expected to announce on Wednesday.

In a nod to the realities of the digital age — and, in particular, the competition from the hugely popular Wikipedia — Encyclopaedia Britannica will focus primarily on its online encyclopedias and educational curriculum for schools, company executives said.

The last edition of the encyclopedia will be the 2010 edition, a 32-volume set that weighs in at 129 pounds and includes new entries on global warming and the Human Genome Project.

“It’s a rite of passage in this new era,” Jorge Cauz, the president of Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc., a Chicago-based company, said in an interview. “Some people will feel sad about it and nostalgic about it. But we have a better tool now. The Web site is continuously updated, it’s much more expansive and it has multimedia.”

The New York Times

1,735 notes

Show

  1. leticiariccoboni reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  2. captain-emmarica13 reblogged this from la-belle-de-nuit
  3. ontopofyou reblogged this from la-belle-de-nuit
  4. la-belle-de-nuit reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  5. ovarydoses reblogged this from lungs-
  6. aeroflux reblogged this from weese
  7. ventice reblogged this from vagrancy
  8. paulinas-mind reblogged this from dukeofstagron
  9. dukeofstagron reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  10. dementy-whatsits reblogged this from thelovelyandthebookish and added:
    Sigh.
  11. k--a--t--y reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  12. shimona90210 reblogged this from futurejournalismproject
  13. how-ardently-i reblogged this from negligee
  14. negligee reblogged this from -redux
  15. pavlovianducks reblogged this from the-neurotic-zen-master
  16. pointme reblogged this from bodaciouscans
  17. vagrancy reblogged this from girloverboard
  18. fantastic-allonsy-geronimo reblogged this from the-neurotic-zen-master and added:
    I’ve got a collection of brittanica from the 1980’s on my shelf it is beautiful!
  19. the-neurotic-zen-master reblogged this from agentbering
  20. killerqueenface reblogged this from hmsharmony
  21. feistyjen reblogged this from bend-it-like-brekken
  22. bend-it-like-brekken reblogged this from girloverboard
  23. girloverboard reblogged this from patbee
  24. declanbarr reblogged this from gematriya
  25. yuyan reblogged this from -redux
  26. theonewiththepower reblogged this from maisewilliams
  27. forgettingtolive reblogged this from bodaciouscans
  28. bluemoon-love reblogged this from agentbering
  29. agentbering reblogged this from -redux

Blog comments powered by Disqus