Britannica Launches Expanded Web Site for Black History Month.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 1998--

Free Multimedia Exhibit Now Includes Study Guide

Encyclopaedia Britannica has introduced a new and expanded edition of the company's highly acclaimed Web site "The Encyclopaedia Britannica Guide to Black History." The site is available free of charge at http://blackhistory.eb.com.

Created for the February observance of Black History Month, the site examines nearly 500 years of African-American history through five distinct time periods, from the struggles of slavery through the Civil Rights Movement. It includes nearly 600 articles, 300 photographs, and is illustrated with historical film clips and audio recordings. The site contains articles from Britannica Online(R), the company's full-service Internet encyclopedia, as well as material developed specially for the site.

The guide is especially rich in biographical information on prominent African-Americans from many fields of endeavor, including literature, the performing arts, sports, and politics. It features action photographs of sports legends, such as Roy Campanella and Michael Jordan, and sound clips of historical significance, such as a reading by the poet Gwendolyn Brooks, a speech by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and an interview with Malcolm X.

A host of new material has just been added to the site, which was first introduced a year ago. Among the new features is a study guide with exercises for teachers and students that can be used in the classroom or at home. The study guide is designed around six activities, each focusing on a period or episode of African-American history, such as slavery, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, or affirmative action.

"The Encyclopaedia Britannica Guide to Black History has been one of the most popular exhibits we have ever produced on the Web," said Paul Hoffman, publisher of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Last year, when we introduced it for the first time, we were swamped with letters and E-mail from people saying how much they appreciated the site. We decided, therefore, to update and expand the site this year and again make it available free of charge during Black History Month. We also decided to add the study guide, a feature you'll be seeing more and more from Encyclopaedia Britannica."

Other new features in the site include:

-- a new design for better navigation; -- more than 25 new articles, including one on the Amistad mutiny,

biographies of Tiger Woods and Marian Wright Edelman, and

historical documents such as the Emancipation Proclamation, the

Atlanta Compromise, and the Dred Scott decision; -- a year-by-year timeline of major events in black history from

1517 to the present; an annotated list of links to other Web

sites with useful information on black history;

an alphabetical listing of every article in the site.

The Encyclopaedia Britannica Guide to Black History will be available free of charge to Internet users through February. After that it will be available only to subscribers of Britannica Online. "Encyclopaedia Britannica Profiles Black History," a CD-ROM based on the Web site, is also available for $29.95.

Britannica, Inc. publishes the most authoritative and comprehensive encyclopedia products in the English language. They include Britannica CD(TM), on CD-ROM; Britannica Online(R), on the Internet; and the famous 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica(R).

The Britannica Internet Guide -- a navigation service offering more than 65,000 high-quality Web sites chosen by Britannica editors -- is available free of charge at http://www.ebig.com.

The company, headquartered in Chicago, is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.eb.com. To purchase or get information about Britannica products, customers may call 1-800-747-8503 or visit the Britannica Bookstore at http://www.eb.com/bookstore/index.htm.

CONTACT: Encyclopaedia Britannica

Nick Farina, 312/347-7102

E-mail: [e-mail]

or

Hill and Knowlton

Maurissa Frost, 312/255-3095

E-mail: [e-mail]