The Encyclopedia Britannica has been one of the most enduring print references sources for over 200 years. Library patrons have perused the volumes of each subsequently revised set to answer questions large and small for generations. However, in the last few years as people have increasingly turned to the Internet and electronic sources to obtain information, print sales of the Encyclopedia Britannica have fallen dramatically. To illustrate that last point consider the fact that when the last print edition of the EB was published in 2010 only 8,000 sets were sold; so not surprisingly, yesterday the Chicago publisher, Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. announced it would no longer produce new print editions of its Encyclopedia. Instead customers may purchase a digital subscription to the Encyclopedia Britannica. The most striking benefit of the digital Encyclopedia Britannica is that it is updated every 20 minutes whereas the print editions obviously were only updated every few years.
Here is link to a Wall Street Journal article on the subject:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450004577280143864147250.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
And one to a New York Times article on the same subject:
Linda R.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 