a) Britannica Internet Guide wins the 1998 Bologna New Media Prize for reference products
The Britannica Internet Guide, Britannica's Internet navigation service, has received the prestigious Bologna New Media Prize for reference products at the Bologna Children's Book Fair. The Bologna New Media Prize is awarded for excellence and innovation in children's multimedia software.
Britannica Internet Guide is a gateway to over 65,000 web sites selected and evaluated by Britannica editors, with subject specialities and strong academic credentials, for quality, depth and reliability. The Guide has been developed to counter the increasingly frustrating problem of finding reliable and valuable information on the Web quickly. Many long searches end in disappointment and not even sophisticated search engine technology can distinguish quality of content. The Britannica Internet Guide helps serious information seekers – parents, professionals, and enthusiasts, as well as students and teachers – quickly find the answers they are looking for. Britannica Internet Guide is available free of charge at http://www.ebig.com.
“We have worked hard to create a navigation service that provides users with the highest quality information available on the Web, and this award proves that we are accomplishing our goal. It recognises that the Britannica Internet Guide is a very useful tool for teachers, parents and children,” said Tim Pethick, Vice President and General Manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica.
b) Encyclopaedia Britannica launches multi-platform CD-ROM
Encyclopaedia Britannica has introduced Britannica CD 98 Standard Edition, a single-disc CD-ROM encyclopaedia operating on Macintosh, Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 platforms. The CD-ROM was available on retail shelves during 1998 competitively priced at £99 including VAT. Britannica CD 98 Standard Edition single disc is also available as a network version for schools, libraries and businesses.
Like the Britannica CD 98 Multimedia Edition released in November 1997, the Standard Edition offers Britannica's complete authoritative digital text database. The Standard Edition is designed to reach a broader consumer and business user base by providing full compatibility with Macintosh and Windows 3.1 in addition to Windows 95 platforms. Users will not have the multimedia functionality; however, they will benefit from being able to access the complete Britannica knowledge database using only one single disc.
“We received an overwhelming consumer response for our Multimedia Edition,” said Tim Pethick, Vice President and General Manager English Language Products for Encyclopaedia Britannica. “But we realise the demand for high-quality CD-ROM encyclopaedias isn't limited to Windows 95 users. There are millions of businesses, home offices, schools and families operating on Macintosh and Windows 3.1 platforms that place a greater emphasis on quick access to authoritative text rather than multimedia content. With the Standard Edition, there's now a Britannica CD for everyone.”
Featuring a new improved interface, the Standard Edition contains more than 72,000 articles, 4,000 photos and graphics, 1,200 interactive world maps and more than 15,000 related Internet links. Both Britannica CD 98 Multimedia and Standard Editions use Britannica's natural-language search engine along with index and dictionary search tools as well as Britannica CD applications such as Compass, a map and geography feature, and Spectrum, Britannica's outline of knowledge for topical browsing. The Standard and Multimedia Editions contain up to four times the number of articles as any other CD-ROM encyclopaedia on the market.
Tim Pethick commented: “We have significantly increased the content of this year's product. We've added or revised almost 800 articles in the core Britannica knowledge base – these are articles that appear both in Britannica CD and the printed Encyclopaedia Britannica. In addition, we have included another 5,000 new articles to Britannica CD that do not appear in the printed set. We've also introduced hundreds of new maps and tripled the number of related Internet links”.
Britannica CD 98 Standard Edition users are offered a discounted connection to Britannica Online, which provides access to a variety of constantly changed special features, such as current events information and special topic databases – currently Britannica Online is focusing on the Titanic, African-American History and Women's History. There is also access to classic articles by famous contributors from previous editions of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the brain-bending word game Hapax Legomena.
For further information please contact:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chancery House, St. Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey SM1 1JB, UK. Tel: (0181) 770 7766. Fax: (0181) 642 9090. E-mail: inquiries@eb.com URL: http://www.eb.co.uk