Stories about: Encyclopedia Britannica

The other day the Encyclopedia Britannica announced that it would now be free for Web publishers -- bloggers, webmasters, or writers. You could pay US$1400 for the 32-volume printed set of books, or you could pay for the online service, but the fact is that competition is pretty stiff when you can get much of the same information for free from Wikipedia.

What is it about April Fools' Day jokes that we love so much? Perhaps it's that, in the midst of the crushing influx of information that many of us cope with daily, a well-constructed prank provides a welcome break. For a moment, we smile, even when the joke is a tried-and-true chestnut.

In January 2001 the English language version of Wikipedia opened for business, and was quickly followed by versions in French, German, Catalan and Swedish. Over the past seven years it has grown to include over 250 language editions with more than eight million articles, almost a quarter of which are in English. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia is the world's largest ever encyclopedia. Thanks to the GNU Free Documentation License that covers all Wikipedia content, it is also the most open and free. But just who is behind Wikipedia, and how does it work? Computerworld recently spoke to Brianna Laugher, a Wikipedia editor and presenter at last year's international Wikipedia conference.

The U.K.'s Inland Revenue department accidentally deleted almost 1 million taxpayer records from the years 1997 to 2000 because of an error in the way it maintained its databases, according to a report published Thursday.

Hewlett-Packard Co.'s proposed acquisition of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC (PwC) is seen as the sort of bold move the company needs to craft its image as a complete solutions provider and make up lost ground in the professional services business.

Britannica.com Inc. is offering Palm VII users free wireless access to the Britannica.com Web site and its wealth of information.

Banks that do not embrace the Internet as a fundamental element of business face disintermediation with customers. Compaq Computer Co. Philippines conveyed this cautionary note to a group of top bank executives who attended Compaq's e-Banking seminar last month.

One of the hottest management fads these days is the "innovator's dilemma."