Britannica Web Sites Win Codie Awards

    CHICAGO, May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., today
 announced that two of its Web sites are winners of the 2008 Codie Awards
 from the Software and Information Industry Association
 (http://www.siia.net).
 
     Britannica Online School Edition (http://school.eb.com) was named Best
 Education Reference or Search Service, and the Britannica Blog
 (http://www.britannica.com/blogs) took Best Corporate Blog honors at the
 association's May 20 gala in San Francisco. A complete list of Codie Award
 winners is available at http://www.siia.net/codies/2008/winners.asp.
 
     The Codie Awards are among the most coveted prizes in the software and
 digital-content industries, and Britannica's latest victories cap a long
 series of Codies the company's digital products have won since the 1990s.
 
     "Naturally, we're thrilled," said Michael Ross, a senior vice president
 with Britannica and general manager of the company's education division.
 "The Codies have enormous prestige. They're highly competitive awards
 because industry leaders pick winners from hundreds of products. This year
 more than 1,100 excellent ones competed for the top spots."
 
     A comprehensive reference and learning resource for grades K-12,
 Britannica Online School Edition is designed for all ages, with content
 clustered in distinct sections for the primary, middle and upper grades. It
 provides students and teachers with an extensive combination of reference
 information and interactive learning tools. It features Encyclopaedia
 Britannica's award-winning encyclopedias serving students of all ages;
 extensive multimedia; current periodicals; Britannica's proprietary,
 editor-checked Internet guide; and a growing number of primary sources. A
 recent addition is the Britannica Learning Zone, a skills-based environment
 for children from preschool to Grade 2.
 
     School Edition is meant to be as relevant in the classroom as it is in
 the library or media lab. Its contents are thoroughly aligned to all state
 standards and include hundreds of lesson plans and other learning
 materials.
 
     The Britannica Blog is a place where writers and readers hold lively
 discussions on almost every topic from art to zoology. More than a hundred
 bloggers have contributed to the daily postings, including radio quiz show
 host Michael Feldman; Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph Ellis; Nobel
 Prize winner Jody Williams; Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum; Internet
 experts Nicholas Carr and Clay Shirky; and sports commentator Frank Deford.
 The blog holds forums on special topics, such as the religion of the
 American Founders, Web 2.0, the cult of celebrity, the future of
 newspapers, and Iran.
 
     About Encyclopaedia Britannica
 
     Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., is a leader in reference and education
 publishing whose products can be found in many media, from the Internet to
 cell phones to books. A pioneer in electronic publishing since the early
 1980s, the company also still publishes the 32-volume Encyclopaedia
 Britannica, along with Web sites such as Britannica Online School Edition
 and new printed products, such as the Britannica Illustrated Science
 Library, which are available at http://www.eb.com. The company makes its
 headquarters in Chicago.
 
 
 

SOURCE Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.