encyclopedia britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica (Latin for "the British Encyclopædia") is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles in the Britannica are aimed at educated adult readers, and written by a staff of about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert contributors. It is widely regarded as the most scholarly of encyclopaedias.
The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopædia still in print. It was first published between 1768 and 1771 in Edinburgh, Scotland, and quickly grew in popularity and size, with its third edition (1797) and supplement (1801) reaching 20 volumes together. Its rising stature helped in recruiting eminent contributors, and the 9th edition (1875–1889) and the 11th edition (1911) are regarded as landmark encyclopaedias for scholarship and literary style. Beginning with the 11th edition, the Britannica gradually shortened and simplified its articles in order to broaden its North American market. In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt a "continuous revision" policy, in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted and every article is updated on a regular schedule.
The current 15th edition has a unique three-part structure: a 12-volume Micropædia of short articles (generally having fewer than 750 words), a 17-volume Macropædia of long articles (having from two to 310 pages) and a single Propædia volume intended to give a hierarchical outline of human knowledge. The Micropædia is meant for quick fact-checking and as a guide to the Macropædia; readers are advised to study the Propædia outline to understand a subject's context and to find other, more detailed articles. The size of the Britannica has remained roughly constant over the past 70 years, with about 40 million words on half a million topics. Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has maintained its traditional British spelling.
Over the course of its history, the Britannica has had difficulty remaining profitable a problem faced by many encyclopaedias. Some articles in certain earlier editions of the Britannica have been criticised for inaccuracy, bias, or unqualified contributors. The accuracy in parts of the present edition has likewise been questioned, although such criticisms have been challenged by Britannica's management.Despite these criticisms, the Britannica retains its reputation as a reliable research tool.