New York Times and Encyclopaedia Britannica Announce Online Partnership

Posted on October 1, 1998

The New York Times on the Web and Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. announced that Britannica's Ready Reference encyclopedia has been added to The New York Times on the Web's archives product. Users can search 65,000 articles from Britannica Online as well as a 365-day archive of New York Times articles when they visit The New York Times on the Web at www.nytimes.com.

"We are pleased to be partnering with Encyclopaedia Britannica to enhance our archives service," said Martin Nisenholtz, president of The New York Times Electronic Media Company. "A combined search of The New York Times's archives and Encyclopaedia Britannica's rich database will enable our users to quickly retrieve comprehensive and relevant articles from two trusted sources for high-quality information."

The New York Times on the Web's archive service now allows users to search for articles from the last 365 days of The New York Times as well as the Ready Reference database of Britannica Online's 1998 release. Users can either search the databases of The Times and Encyclopaedia Britannica separately, or they can search both simultaneously. If users choose to query both databases at the same time, the search results are combined. For example, a search on "Kosovo" produces a list of newspaper articles mentioning the embattled Serbian province as well as articles from Britannica Online about the region's history, geography, and people. Each search returns a list of articles with the length, author, source, and opening text of the article indicated with each citation. The cost to download and purchase the full text of any article for $2.50. There is no charge for searching.