''Den Store Danske Encyklopædi'' () is the most comprehensive contemporary
Danish language
Danish (, ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken by about six million people, principally in and around Denmark. Communities of Danish speakers are a ...
encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
. The 20 volumes of the encyclopedia were published successively between 1994 and 2001; a one-volume supplement was published in 2002 and two index volumes in 2003. The work comprises 115,000 articles, ranging in size from single-line cross references to the 130-page entry on Denmark. The articles were written by a staff of about 4,000 academic experts led by editor-in-chief
Jørn Lund. Articles longer than a few dozen lines are signed by their authors. Many articles are illustrated.
The encyclopedia was published by ''Danmarks Nationalleksikon A/S'' (Denmark's National Encyclopedia), a subsidiary of Denmark's publishing house
Gyldendal that was set up for the purpose. The project was inspired by the almost contemporary Swedish ''
Nationalencyklopedin
(; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version.
History
The project was ...
''; it received financial support from the
Augustinus Foundation and was backed by a governmental inflation guarantee on pre-paid subscriptions. Eventually about 35,000 copies were sold.
CD version
The text of the paper encyclopedia was also published, but without illustrations, on
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
s for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
in 2004 and for
macOS
macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
in 2005. In January 2006, it was announced that a full online edition of the encyclopedia was expected to be available in later 2006 on a subscription basis, with the help of a renewed grant from the Augustinus Foundation. In March 2008, the publishing house announced that it failed to get sufficient numbers of subscribers and declared the project a failure.
The CD-ROM version of the encyclopedia is likely not to work without an update on newer versions of Windows XP/Vista, due to a security fix from Microsoft.
Online version
An online version of the encyclopedia was released on 26 February 2009 free-of-charge, generating revenue by displaying ads. The free online version was published using wiki software, opening up for user contributions. The decision to offer it free of charge was criticized by buyers of the DKK 25,000
(approx US$4,500 (2010)) paper encyclopedia, to whom the publishing house originally had pledged that a reduced-price paper version would never be released. The publishing house insists that all pledges are honored, as the free-of-charge version is web-based, and not a paper encyclopedia.
[''Oplysningstid 2.0.'' Information, 20 November 2008, Bøger, Side 24/25]
Gyldendal's vision is to create a hybrid between the traditional encyclopedia and user-generated encyclopedias like Wikipedia. While registered users may contribute with content and upload images, etc., a professional editorial staff maintain oversight over contributions.
The status of an article is clearly flagged, if it is user-generated content or if it has been approved by the editorial staff.
The vision is that the online version will be the Dane's preferred choice for updated and trustworthy information, maintaining the status of a traditional encyclopedia.
[''Kronik: www.denstoredanske.dk'' by Cliff Hansen, forlagschef, Gyldendal Digital og LARS BOESGAARD, direktør, Gyldendal Fakta. Berlingske Tidende, 19 November 2008, Kultur & Debat, Side 13] Gyldendal sought to recruit about 1,500 subject matter experts to verify user contributions to the about 161,000 articles - by March 2009 about 1,100 experts had been enrolled.
[''Encyklopædi på internettet med problemer'' Magisterbladet, 13 March 2009, 1. sektion, Side 24] The permanent editorial staff comprises 20 persons.
In 2017 Gylendal decided it was too expensive to maintain the online version of the encyclopedia. In 2020 the contents the online version of the encyclopedia were added to ''Lex''.
Copyright
The original articles from ''Den Store Danske Encyclopædi'' can be used freely but cannot be distributed or used commercially.
The new articles (made by the users) can be used freely provided the source is referenced using a
deep link.
''Den Store Danske'' is covered by the Danish copyright law and it belongs to Gyldendal.
See also
*
List of Danish online encyclopedic resources
References
External links
''Den store Danske''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Store Danske Encyklopaedi
Danish encyclopedias
Gyldendal books
1994 non-fiction books
20th-century encyclopedias
21st-century encyclopedias