Nationalencyklopedin
Encyclopedia
Nationalencyklopedin is the most comprehensive contemporary Swedish language
encyclopedia
, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden
of 17 million Swedish kronor
in 1980, which was repaid by December 1990. The printed version consists of 20 volumes with 172,000 articles; the Internet
version comprises 260,000 articles (as of June 2005).
became the publisher responsible for the project. The project specifications were for a modern reference work based on a scientific
paradigm
incorporating gender
and environment
al issues.
Pre-orders for the work were unprecedented; before the first volume was published in December 1989, 54,000 customers had ordered the encyclopedia. The last volume came out in 1996, with three supplemental volumes in 2000.
Associated with the Nationalencyklopedin project are also:
In 1997, the first digital
form of the encyclopedia was released on 6 CD-ROM
s (later on DVD
as well), and in 2000 as an Internet
subscription service. The online version contains the dictionary as well as an updated version of the original encyclopedia. It has 356,000 entries, 183,000 of which are encyclopedic articles. The service has been completed with several features not available in the printed version, such as a Swedish-English
dictionary.
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
, initiated by a favourable loan from the Government of Sweden
Government of Sweden
The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden is the supreme executive authority of Sweden. It consists of the Prime Minister and cabinet ministers appointed by the Prime Minister. The Government is responsible for their actions to the Riksdag, which is the legislative assembly...
of 17 million Swedish kronor
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
in 1980, which was repaid by December 1990. The printed version consists of 20 volumes with 172,000 articles; the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
version comprises 260,000 articles (as of June 2005).
History
The project was born in 1980, when a government committee suggested that negotiations be initiated with various publishers. This stage was finished in August 1985, when Bra Böcker in HöganäsHöganäs
Höganäs is a locality and the seat of Höganäs Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 13,550 inhabitants in 2005.Höganäs is nationally known for its ceramics industry, Höganäs Keramik. Höganäs Keramik is part of Iittala Group....
became the publisher responsible for the project. The project specifications were for a modern reference work based on a scientific
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
paradigm
Paradigm
The word paradigm has been used in science to describe distinct concepts. It comes from Greek "παράδειγμα" , "pattern, example, sample" from the verb "παραδείκνυμι" , "exhibit, represent, expose" and that from "παρά" , "beside, beyond" + "δείκνυμι" , "to show, to point out".The original Greek...
incorporating gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
and environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
al issues.
Pre-orders for the work were unprecedented; before the first volume was published in December 1989, 54,000 customers had ordered the encyclopedia. The last volume came out in 1996, with three supplemental volumes in 2000.
Associated with the Nationalencyklopedin project are also:
- NE:s Ordbok, a dictionaryDictionaryA dictionary is a collection of words in one or more specific languages, often listed alphabetically, with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon...
in three volumes (1995-1996) - NE:s Årsband, complementary volumes concerning current events and fast changing information distributed annually since 1997
- NE:s Sverigeatlas, an atlas of SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
(1998) - NE:s Världsatlas, a world atlas (1998)
- NE-spelet, a quiz game with 8,000 questions (1999)
In 1997, the first digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
form of the encyclopedia was released on 6 CD-ROM
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM is a pre-pressed compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for data storage and music playback. The 1985 “Yellow Book” standard developed by Sony and Philips adapted the format to hold any form of binary data....
s (later on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
as well), and in 2000 as an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
subscription service. The online version contains the dictionary as well as an updated version of the original encyclopedia. It has 356,000 entries, 183,000 of which are encyclopedic articles. The service has been completed with several features not available in the printed version, such as a Swedish-English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
dictionary.
See also
- Nordisk familjebokNordisk familjebokNordisk familjebok is a Swedish encyclopedia, published between 1876 and 1957.- History :The first edition was published in 20 volumes between 1876 and 1899. The first edition is known as the "Iðunn edition" because of the picture of Iðunn on the cover...
(1876-1957) - Swedish WikipediaSwedish WikipediaThe Swedish Wikipedia is the Swedish language edition of Wikipedia. It was the third edition of Wikipedia, started in May 2001 alongside German Wikipedia, after English Wikipedia and Catalan Wikipedia...
- List of online encyclopedias
External links
- Nationalencyklopedin - Official site (in Swedish)
- Svenska uppslagsverk - Christofer Psilander's comprehensive bibliography on Swedish encyclopedias