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 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 houses

Aschehoug H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), commonly known as Aschehoug,() is one of the largest independent publishing companies in Norway, founded in 1872. Headquartered in Oslo, the publishing house has 480 employees. The Aschehoug group also comprises ot ...

and Gyldendal merged their encyclopedias and created the company

Kunnskapsforlaget Kunnskapsforlaget () is a Norwegian publishing company based in Oslo. Kunnskapsforlaget was established in 1975, as a partnership between H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard) and Gyldendal Norsk Forlag. The purpose was to co-operate on publishing e ...

. Up until 1978 the two publishing houses of

and Gyldendal, 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 krone The krone (, abbreviation: kr (also NKr for distinction); code: NOK), plural ''kroner'', is currency of the Kingdom of Norway (including Svalbard). Traditionally known as the Norwegian crown in English. It is nominally subdivided into 100 ...

r 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 Olaf Erling Kortner (10 May 1920 – 26 January 1998) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party of Norway, Liberal Party. He was born in Skien. From 1948 to 1950 he was the leader of the Young Liberals of Norway, the youth wing of th ...

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 young ...

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

, . * 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 online encyclopedia 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