China has attained an identity of being a country which can come up with a replica of almost anything ever produced by a man. Even though this statement is simply an exaggerated metaphor, it is true to quite an extent. And the new venture of this highly populated country will contribute in turning this statement authentic.
China is planning to introduce its personal encyclopedia on the internet soon. It has become a reflex action for humans that whenever they are in need of information, the internet is referred to. One of the most reliable sources online for such information is Wikipedia. People believe that whatever is published on Wikipedia is the truth or the closest to it. China will supposedly give this internationally popular encyclopedia competition in its own field of expertise. The Chinese Encyclopaedia will be available online by next year.
The sole purpose behind the launch of this Chinese Encyclopaedia is to break the market of Wikipedia in the country. As China streams the content before it reaches the public through the internet, analysts believe that this move might be to control the information published on an online encyclopedia. But a major difference between Wikipedia and this encyclopedia is that the users are welcome to make changes on any of its pages. This makes people question the authenticity of informatory data on Wikipedia. The Chinese Government will hire a team of hundreds and thousands of experts to conduct research for the encyclopedia which will result in accurate information.
How does the Chinese Encyclopaedia aim to stand out?
In order to make this encyclopedia online by next year, the Chinese Government has already hired more than 20,000 authors from various research institutes as well as universities. These experts will contribute to the development of the online encyclopedia by publishing articles in at least 100 topics. This gives us an idea about the wide horizon of the publication catering to the informatory needs of the people. This third edition of the encyclopedia is considered to be the largest publication project of the country. In terms of size, it will be equivalent to the Chinese translated version of Wikipedia. But it will be double the size in comparison to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The Chinese Encyclopaedia claims to come with at least 30,000 entries and each of these articles will approximately be 1,000 words long.
The Chinese Government is clarifying the lack of user interaction to provide authentic information. There is an assumption that this move will further deprive the people of this country to the access to information. Officials involved in this project state that the Chinese Encyclopaedia will depict the country’s version of historic events. This will put to rest a number of misconceptions about the Chinese history and culture doing the rounds. The Editor-in-chief of this project, Yang Muzhi says that this book will be a Great Wall of Culture for China. The encyclopedia will guide and lead the public in the right direction.
