Free Britannica Access to Library Bloggers, Writers

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SLJ Staff -- School Library Journal, 4/30/2008 2:05:00 PM

Online publishers—and that includes educators and librarians who regularly write or blog for the Web—may now receive a free subscription to the online Encyclopedia Britannica.

"This program is intended for people who publish with some regularity on the Internet, be they bloggers, webmasters, or writers," advises the April 29 announcement by Britannicanet.com.

Considering that regular subscriptions to the online reference cost $70 for individuals and 65 cents per student for schools, is the mighty Britannica taking a financial risk? "We don't think so," says Corporate Communications Director Tom Panelas. "It's going to create more exposure for us and ultimately bring more people and give us more subscriptions.

"People who publish on the Web are the people shaping and driving the main issues of the day," Panelas explains. "We think Britannica belongs in the middle of those conversations, so we want to make our material available to the people shaping those discussions."

Though the complimentary subscriptions last only one year, they are renewable—so long as the subscriber continues publishing, Panelas says. The offer is not intended to "hook" future paying customers, he adds.

Once subscribers gain free access, they can then set up "widgets" which, Panelas explains, will enable readers of subscribers' work to access clusters of Britannica articles on the topics they cover.

The company will review all applicants, who are asked to fill out an online form. They need to be able to state that they publish regularly and to supply a URL and description of their work. Writers offering e-commerce sites with no content are not eligible, nor those who maintain a simple Facebook page. Nor is anyone who creates a new blog with a single post in order to snag a subscription, says Panelas, tongue-in-cheek.