January 24, 2009 Encyclopædia Britannica the world’s oldest English-language encyclopaedia (since 1768), is to make significant changes to its editorial model, allowing readers to edit its entries. Unlike its popular user-generated internet competitor Wikipedia, the company will retain its 100 full-time editors and 4,000 expert contributors and each article will have a detailed history with changes and who made them. “I think the future is likely going to be that in every media segment there has to be a symbiotic relationship between editor and reader,” Britannica 's president, Jorge Cauz told the Times newspaper.

In 1933, the Britannica became the first encyclopaedia to adopt a "continuous revision" policy, in which the encyclopaedia is continually reprinted and every article is updated on a regular schedule.