[LINK] Re: Impact of EC on Encyclopaedia Britannica

Roger Clarke (Roger.Clarke@anu.edu.au)
Fri, 13 Aug 1999 17:46:08 +1000

I asked about references to the Encyclopaedia Britannica experience.

These interleaved e-lists represent is a pretty well-informed community!!

Blake Ives remembered that it was featured in:
Shapiro C. & Varian H.R. (1999) 'Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to
the Network Economy' Harvard Business School, 1999.
(So *that's* why I couldn't find it in my e-archives - I'd actually seen it
in atoms, not bits!!). The most important parts are at pp. 19-21 and 26.

Shapiro and Varian reference the following:
Melcher R.A. (1997) 'Dusting off the Britannica' Business Week, 20 Oct 97
http://www.businessweek.com/1997/42/b3549124.htm

On the ecommcourse cases site at:
http://www.usc.edu/schools/business/atisp/ec/cases/sub-pages/general.htm
there's the Thomas Gerace case, Harvard N9-396-051 of 1995 (which in 13
pages plus exhibits, "investigates the history of Encyclopedia Britannica,
the shift from paper to CD-ROM and ultimately other media forms of
distribution"). Julie Johnson <j.johnson@ecu.edu.au> points out that this
can be purchased online from http://www.hbsp.harvard.edu/

"Peter O'Shea" <posh@tmte.com.au> drew my attention to an item in:
http://www.ecommercetoday.com.au/
E-Commerce Today, Issue 18, October 29, 1998
called 'Encyclopaedia Britannica 'caught napping''

That's a paid subscription service, but Peter was happy for this community
to read the item. It's below, with the appropriate markings on it.

Thanks to the helpers! ... Roger

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E-Commerce Today
http://www.ecommercetoday.com.au/
Issue 18, October 29, 1998

Copyright The TMTE Group, based in Sydney, Australia:
http://www.ecommercetoday.com.au/cpyright.htm
And please don't change text and credit where due.

Encyclopaedia Britannica 'caught napping'

Businesses which sell information-based goods or services would be wise to
"sacrifice traditional business models" and will eventually have to use the
internet to survive, the UK and Australian head of Encyclopaedia Britannica
has warned. Tim Pethick, MD, Encyclopaedia Britannica International, told
the E-Business Symposium in Melbourne this week that even though the amount
of information produced has risen dramatically in the last three decades
(60% of all books ever published in the western world have been published
since the 1960s, he says) the emergence of the internet had forced his
organisation to fight for its life. In 1991, Encyclopaedia Britannica sold
about 400,000 encyclopedia sets internationally; this year it sold 10,000.
"We were caught napping by the information age," Pethick said.

"Encyclopaedia Britannica has changed more in the last few years than in
its 230-year history." Some of this was due to the launch of a CD-rom
competitor, Encarta, and Encyclopaedia Britannica's CD sales have since
offset the slump only slightly, he said. The internet, by empowering
customers through search engines and endless choice, had brought about the
"democratisation of information provision". Browsing through a volume of
Encyclopaedia Britannica had been replaced by surfing the net.

Encyclopaedia Britannica adapted by offering information in another format
- electronically - and now offers a wide range of search and information
facilities on its website. It now gets 40,000 new customers trialing its
subscription-based information-on-demand internet services globally, every
month. "Subscription-based models can work on the internet," he said. Its
main client targets are colleges and universities. Pethick said the
information age will have as much impact on business and society as the
agrarian and industrial revolutions. "Businesses can either be excited by
the change or stunned by the headlights, but the smart ones will be those
that see the change coming and regard it as an opportunity."

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Roger Clarke http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/

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