The Encyclopaedia Britannica, has announced recently that it will allow users to be able to edit their reference library to keep it up to date. Under the new plan, it will allow readers and contributing experts to maintain the entries posted online.
Britannica has maintained however, that user content will be placed alongside a Britannica "checked" article, making sure readers are able to distinguish between the two sources of information. Not only this, but they have also decided to allow only a select few of individuals to contribute to the reference library, allowing the information to be more conformed to Britannica"s standards.
With many reference sites now allowing users to edit content such as Wikipedia and Knol (a project by Google) it is not surprising Britannica have tried to keep up with changing times with information going into the "cloud" rather than remaining static.
Britannica has since unveiled a beta of their updated site which will then become the finished Britannica online website.