The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' ( no, Store Norske Leksikon, abbreviated ''SNL''), is a Norwegian-language online

encyclopedia An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles ...

. The

online encyclopedia An online encyclopedia, also called an Internet encyclopedia, or a digital encyclopedia, is an encyclopedia accessible through the internet. Examples include Wikipedia and ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Digitization of old content In January 199 ...

is among the most-read Norwegian published sites, with more than two million unique visitors per month.

Paper editions 1978–2007

The complete last edition of Aschehoug og Gyldendals Store norske leksikon

The ''SNL'' was created in 1978, when the two

publishing house Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

s Aschehoug and

Gyldendal Gyldendalske Boghandel, Nordisk Forlag A/S, usually referred to simply as Gyldendal () is a Danish publishing house. Founded in 1770 by Søren Gyldendal, it is the oldest and largest publishing house in Denmark, offering a wide selection of ...

merged their encyclopedias and created the company Kunnskapsforlaget. Up until 1978 the two publishing houses of Aschehoug and

, Norway's two largest, had published ' and ', respectively. The respective first editions were published in 1907–1913 (Aschehoug) and 1933–1934 (Gyldendal). The slump in sales for paper-based encyclopedias around the turn of the 21st century hit Kunnskapsforlaget hard, but a fourth edition of the paper encyclopedia was secured by a grant of ten million Norwegian kroner from the foundation Fritt Ord in 2003. The fourth edition consisted of 16 volumes, a total of 12,000 pages and 280,000 entries.

List of paper editions

* First edition, 1978–1981, 12 volumes. Chief editors Olaf Kortner,

Preben Munthe Preben Hempel Munthe (15 October 1922 – 3 January 2013) was a Norwegian economist. He was born in Aker, the son of librarian Wilhelm Munthe (1883–1965) and his wife Jenny Hempel (1882–1975). Gerhard Munthe was his elder brother. The younger ...

, * Second edition, 1986–1989, 15 volumes. Chief editors Olaf Kortner,

, . * Third edition, 1995–1998, 16 volumes. Chief editor

Petter Henriksen Petter Henriksen (born 30 November 1949) is a Norwegian musician and publisher. Personal life Henriksen was born in Brooklyn on 30 November 1949, and graduated with a degree in music from the University of Oslo. Musical career Henriksen was a ...

. * Fourth edition, 2005–2007, 16 volumes. Chief editor

Online encyclopedia

The online edition of ''SNL'' was launched in 2000, and had both private and institutional subscribers. The paywall was removed on 25 February 2009, and the

became free to use. On 12 March 2010, announced that they would close the online encyclopedia because of lacklustre sales and failing revenue. It was also announced that the articles would not be given to the

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best know ...

, with chief editor

stating that: "It is important that the people behind the articles remain visible". In 2011, the foundations Fritt Ord and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB acquired the encyclopedia, hired

Anne Marit Godal Anne Marit Godal (born 20 November 1972) is a Norwegian encyclopedist. She studied political science at the University of Oslo and has had positions in the Norwegian Labour Party and No to the EU. From 2011 to 2016 she was editor-in-chief of ' ...

as the new chief editor and established a new organisation, assisted by the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick Unive ...

and

Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association The Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association (NFF) ( no, Norsk faglitterær forfatter- og oversetterforening) is an organization for writers and translators of all kinds of non-fiction literature. Membership is open to writers and ...

. In 2014 ('the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia Association') was established; members of the association are Norwegian universities and other non-profit organisations. In 2016 became the new chief editor. As of 2019, the SNL has around 200,000 articles online, updated by approximately 800 affiliated academics. The ''SNL'' accepts contributions from users, but all changes to the articles are verified by a topic expert before publication.About the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia
(Norwegian)

References

External links

*
About the ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia''
{{authority control National encyclopedias Norwegian online encyclopedias 1978 non-fiction books Aschehoug books Gyldendal Norsk Forlag books 20th-century encyclopedias 21st-century encyclopedias