The Blogging of Fallon 746

The Encyclopedia Britannica has long been much more than a venerable print reference work. A decade ago it pioneered a freemium website (some content free, other content behind a pay wall). This has now flourished into a comprehensive walled garden of knowledge. Additionally, the Britannica publishes books and CD-ROMs about specific topics and issues. These are the best primers and introductions available to a host of fields and areas, from history to science. The Britannicas rich online content adds context and dollops of information to the already unsurpassed DVD (see below). Indeed, buyers of any of the Britannicas physical products enjoy 30-180 days of free access to this cornucopian resource (subject to registration of their products). But, in an age of mobile, wireless smartphones and netbooks, the Britannica Online is also a stand-alone product: it provides the entire content of the DVD and much, much more besides. Admittedly, at 30-50 USD annually it is not cheap and thus more suited to institutions, universities, and libraries than to individuals. The Britannica would do well to consider an affordable, more limited consumer version. Post was generated by GSA Content Generator Demoversion.

Research tools include: an A to Z browser of the entire encyclopedia content; world atlas; world data analyst (statistics by country, replete with analytical and graphing tools); timelines on a multitude of subjects, from sports to evolution; browseable content of more than 500 magazines (otherwise not available online for free); and an “on this day” feature which aggregates date-sensitive content from the entire corpus of information. A selection of new and revised full-text articles is highlighted. In total, the Britannica Online comprises more than 1 million pages. There is a delightful, colourful, and multimedia-rich Britannica Online for Kids. The paid content is augmented by loads of free features. “Spotlights” provide multimedia-enhanced tours of broad subjects (guide to Shakespeare; Normandy 1944; 300 women who changed the world, and so on); newsletters provide a plethora of theme-specific information; widgets and RSS feeds allow the user to explore places, people, and topics; aggregated newsfeeds from the BBC News and the New-York Times sit right atop a Merriam-Webster dictionary searchbox. Content has been created with GSA Content Generator Demoversion.

I tested the site on 4 mobile phones (older versions SonyEricsson and Nokia, iPhone 3, and Siemens) and it worked well as far as text is concerned. Graphics and videos were another matter, but this is a problem common to all websites: from YouTube to the CNN. https://essayfreelancewriters.com/blog/how-to-write-a-500-word-essay/ has great topic-specific apps for the iPhone as well as a “Concise Britannica” app. But, I couldnt find a CNN-like app or widget to allow me to surf the Britannica Online and fully benefit from its visual content. I could also find no Britannica apps for Android-based smartphones and devices: a major lacuna. The Encyclopedia Britannica 2011 Ultimate Edition (formerly "Student and Home Edition") builds on the success of its completely revamped previous editions in 2006-10. The rate of innovation in the last five versions was impressive and welcome. It continues apace in this rendition with Britannica Biographies (Great Minds, Heroes and Villains, and Leaders), Classical Music (500 audio files arranged by composer), and a great Workspace for Project Management (a kind of friendly digital den).

Six months of free access to the myriad riches of the Britannica Online complete the package (as well as monthly updates and discounts on a plethora of products). Research Organizer; and a Knowledge Navigator (called The Brain or BrainStormer). All told, it offers a directory of more than 166,000 reviewed and vetted links to online content. In its new form the Britannica is user-friendly, with an A to Z Quick Search feature. The Britannica's newest interface is even more intuitive and uncluttered than previously and is great fun to use. It offers morsels of knowledge, some of it date-specific, appetizingly presented through a ticker tape of visuals that leisurely scrolls across the bottom of the screen plus highly edifying interactive tours of articles and attendant media. When you enter even the first few letters of a term in the search box, it offers various options and is persistent: no need to click on the toolbar's "search" button every time you want to find something in this vast storehouse of knowledge.

Moreover, the user can save search results onto handy "Virtual Notecards". Whole articles can be copied onto the seemingly inexhaustible Workspace. The new Britannica's display is tab-based, avoiding the erstwhile confusing proliferation of windows with every move. Most importantly, articles appear in full, not in sections. This major improvement facilitates the finding of relevant keywords in and the printing of entire texts. These are only a few of the numerous alterations and enhancements. Perhaps the most refreshing change is the Britannica's Update Center. Dozens of monthly updates and new, timely articles are made available online (subject to free registration). A special button alerts the user when an entry in the base product has been updated. Regrettably, the updates are not incorporated into the vast encyclopedia and its search interface: they are out there on a website. Moreover, the product does not alert its user to the existence of completely new articles, only to updated ones. It takes a manual scan of the monthly lists to reveal newly added content.