Today, just as novels are beginning to appear on the Internet, some books that went digital years ago are going back into print.
After publishing on the Internet and CD-ROM for almost a decade, Encyclopaedia Britannica has just issued a revised printing of its 32-volume encyclopedia, the first in four years. The reason for the new set, says Editor Dale Hoiberg, is that demand for the books is strong.
"Computers are great, but many people still love the feel of paper and ink between two covers," he said. "Books aren't as fast as the Internet, but they provide pleasures and benefits that no other medium can."
The revised Britannica opens a new chapter in the life of the venerable reference work, first published in Scotland in 1768. The latest printing includes thousands of revised articles and hundreds of new ones, including entries on Madonna, Tiger Woods, author J.K. Rowling and lengthy new treatments of topics like globalization, the Holocaust and Thomas Jefferson. It also has coverage of the September 11 terrorist attacks, for which the editors literally stopped the printing presses to make revisions.
Encyclopedias have been around for hundreds of years as summaries of human knowledge, places where people could find answers to questions or study a subject in depth. Often massive in size, they are unique creatures in the publishing world. Of the 44-million-word Britannica, Hoiberg says, "It's the equivalent of several hundred average books. Picture all those books on your shelf, and you get an idea of what it is to have an encyclopedia. It's like a small library covering nearly every subject."
Despite the enduring affection for books, digital encyclopedias do have their advantages -- like cost. Britannica's CD-ROMs and DVDs range in price from $39.95 to $69.95. Each contains the entire text of the printed encyclopedia and more. On the Web, you can use the encyclopedia as much as you want for $50 a year or $7.95 a month.
Digital formats also allow the user to search the entire encyclopedia in seconds and move from one article to another with just a click of the mouse. If you're doing in-depth research and reading long articles, though, Hoiberg says the printed book may be your best bet, since reading a computer screen can be tedious.
"We're learning more every day about what people want," says Hoiberg. "Instead of one medium replacing another, today they all coexist. People use print, CD-ROM, and the Internet for different purposes, and each has its place. The future of reference is truly multimedia."