Once upon a time, Britannica employed a sales force of people who went door to door selling their leather bound encyclopedia’s. As the Internet took over as the resource most people used for information, Britannica tried to adjust by offering a subscription service. But with the likes of Wikipedia the company has struggled. So they are now inviting the public to post information on their site. According to this news source it states:

Britannica is opening its online pages to the masses, inviting public postings.

Save any trivia about SpongeBob SquarePants for Wikipedia. But if you want to contribute, by name, to the history of Queen Elizabeth I, Britannica is interested.

“By inviting a larger range of people to contribute and collaborate, we can produce more coverage,” said Britannica spokesman Tom Panelas. “People in the community can contribute to the improvement of Encyclopedia Britannica.”

Its adoption of an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” philosophy, quietly unveiled this month, is seen as heresy by some. Britannica is considered a staid but reliable source of scholarship compared to the wild, woolly – and sometimes inaccurate – world of Internet publishing.

The new site will not be a free-for-all. The core encyclopedia will continue to be edited and will bear the imprimatur “Britannica Checked.” But Britannica will now let outsiders create articles, essays and multi-media presentations.

It should be interesting to see if Britannica can maintain itself as a information source.  Accepting the public to contribute information could be a step in the right direction.

Comments welcome.

Source.