Encyclopedia Britannica's long print run ceases
Source: Agencies |
March 15, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN yet another sign of the growing dominance of the digital publishing market, the oldest English-language encyclopedia still in print is moving solely into the digital age.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica, which has been in print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768, said yesterday it will end publication of its printed editions and continue with digital versions available online.
The flagship, 32-volume printed edition, available every two years, was sold for US$1,400. An online subscription costs around US$70 per year and the company recently launched a set of apps ranging between US$1.99 and US$4.99 per month. It will keep selling print editions until the current stock of around 4,000 sets ran out.
It is the latest move Encyclopaedia Britannica has made to expand its Internet reference services and move farther into educational products. It first flirted with digital publishing in the 1970s, published a version for computers in 1981 for LexisNexis subscribers and first posted to the Internet in 1994. "The print edition became more difficult to maintain and wasn't the best physical element to deliver the quality of our database and the quality of our editorial," Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, said.
With its scholarly, reliable reputation, Encyclopaedia Britannica had not been affected by the popularity of free online website Wikipedia, he said.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica, which has been in print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768, said yesterday it will end publication of its printed editions and continue with digital versions available online.
The flagship, 32-volume printed edition, available every two years, was sold for US$1,400. An online subscription costs around US$70 per year and the company recently launched a set of apps ranging between US$1.99 and US$4.99 per month. It will keep selling print editions until the current stock of around 4,000 sets ran out.
It is the latest move Encyclopaedia Britannica has made to expand its Internet reference services and move farther into educational products. It first flirted with digital publishing in the 1970s, published a version for computers in 1981 for LexisNexis subscribers and first posted to the Internet in 1994. "The print edition became more difficult to maintain and wasn't the best physical element to deliver the quality of our database and the quality of our editorial," Jorge Cauz, president of Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc, said.
With its scholarly, reliable reputation, Encyclopaedia Britannica had not been affected by the popularity of free online website Wikipedia, he said.
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