The world received word yesterday that the publishers of Encyclopedia Britannica would stop producing hardbound, paper copies of their venerable reference. Of course now you wonder, if they don’t print it out, how can you scan it into your computer?
They only sold around 8,000 of the $1,400 volumes that are updated biannually. The rest are in a warehouse in Chicago, looking for someone who needs historically accurate, out-of-date information. Surprised they didn’t obtain a government contract.
Of course this is changing due to the Internet, but not everyone has Internet access, only two thirds of America has Internet access. Of course apparently the remaining one third don’t have much demand for 400 lbs of book learning.
The most common complaint about the Internet standard edition of the encyclopedia, Wikipedia is accuracy? What is accuracy anyway? In today’s Wikipedia what is considered accurate is up for debate and is changed frequently, rather than relying on a few content experts to judge what is really true. It’s sometimes messy, it’s sometimes volatile or out of date, but it’s democracy.
It’s amazing that stories reporting the demise of the print edition have numerous comments about the story, fitting in personal beliefs and shots at other people or groups of people. If you tried that in the print edition at the library, you would be banned.
The modern world has given us easier access to information, far speedier correction and points of view, but also allowed all of us to take part. Write and contribute to the world knowledge in a very direct way. Literally we have a way to define history. But I gotta go, my Postman has a 400 lb package at the door for me.
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