Digital Trends

Wikipedia might bask in the online reference limelight - now the stalwart Encyclopedia Britannica wants to fight back with...user-generated content?

There's no question that the online reference site Wikipedia is the darling of online reference sites. Despite its share of scandals and debate surrounding the validity of citing Wikipedia articles in schoolwork and research, there's no question that the online encyclopedia made up entirely of community-generated content has been a hit with the Internet community: in terms of traffic, Wikipedia is one of the Internet's top "brands."

The stodgy and stalwart Encyclopedia Britannica has consistently poo-poo-ed Wikipedia—when it deigns to mention it at all—arguing that community-contributed articles can't hold a candle to the expert writers and careful editing to be found in their authoritative reference work. And, to be sure, Wikipedia contains its share of frivolous entries and inanities, such as a disproportionate number of entries devoted to hopefully soon-forgotten pop music figures. But now, it seems, Britannica plans to cautiously turn over a little, tiny leaf and "encourage greater participation" from its contributors and readers. Britannica plans to . that will enable scholars to promote themselves, publish work, participate in a "reward system," and incorporate changes and suggested to their work suggested by Britannica readers. A beta version of the site is online now—and, perhaps unsurprisingly, is festooned with information about…celebrities.

"At the new Britannica site, we will welcome and facilitate the increased participation of our contributors, scholars, and regular users," the organization wrote in an unattributed blog entry, "but we will continue to accept all responsibility of what we write under our name. We are not abdicating our responsibility as publishers or burying it under the now-fashionable "wisdom of the crowds."

Britannica plans to enable users to suggest changes, updates, links, and pointers to other reference materials that could improve the Encyclopedia Britannica, and publish that information alongside the encyclopedia. However, Britannica itself "will continue to be edited according to the most rigorous standards;" material that's been through their editorial review will be stamped "Britannica Checked" and kept separate from user-submitted material.