”With the spread of the web, virtual encyclopaedias are opening new horizons for individual and collective learning. (…)

VIRTUAL ENCYCLOPEDIAS – are aiming at affecting the old purpose of encyclopaedias, that is, the complete knowledge about the world, by means of the internet. Contrary to the encyclopaedias from the time of printing, the contents of virtual encyclopaedias, as well the links between certain entries, can be updated continuously. Moreover, links of specialist literature can be accessed immediately by utilizing the growing riches of the web, and their knowledge is not only available in text format, but also a wild spectrum of multimedia (voices, pictures, animations) can be transmitted.

Encyclopaedias on the internet can be the digital versions of ordinary encyclopaedias, for instance the 1911 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, or web-based, free-content encyclopaedias like Wikipedia, or real encyclopaedias, like the German wissen.de and the Hungarian Virtual Encyclopedia (under construction).