About EncycloZine

EncycloZine.com About : Authors, Email, History, Kudos, Privacy, Style, Top

EncycloZine is an online encyclopedia and store (books, posters, etc) with articles on thousands of topics in Arts, Business, Computers, Games, Health, History, Home, Recreation, Reference, Science, Society, Sports, and Technology.

It comprises 4 sub-sites: Artzia (arts and humanities), Eluzions (games, puzzles, and illusions), Kosmoi (science and technology), and EncycloZine itself (Reference and miscellaneous content).

Founded in 1998 as the first XHTML site on the web, EncycloZine was one of the first free online encyclopedias. Since then, many more have appeared, including Wikipedia and a deluge of Wikipedia clones. Most of the clones simply mirror Wikipedia, adding little or no value. We also mirror Wikipedia, but as secondary content providing further information 'under' our primary content. We go further than most by adding book and other product recommendations. Our primary content has been written by us or commissioned authors, or has been derived from other public domain or copyright-free sources.

Our aim is to provide overviews of significant topics that are easy to find and read. Unlike most encyclopedias, we structure our content into a hierarchy, similar to DMOZ, modified to better reflect the encyclopedic content. EncycloZine improves the browsing experience this way, and also by providing lists of most popular pages - check them out to see some of our best articles!

We welcome suggestions for improvement, or article proposals from prospective authors, or offers of graphics, games, etc. Contact us via our Forum, or see the Richmond page for contact info. Due to torrential spam, email contact isn't recommended (yes, we use filters, but when you get thousands of spams per day, too many get through).

Using HTML's successor, XHTML, EncycloZine is produced by Alan and Lucy Richmond, founders of the Web Developer's Virtual Library (now owned by internet.com).

Kudos

New Scientist: "This is a good, if basic, website, and an excellent introduction to the many and varied fields of science."

Library Spot: "It's ... a joy to visit. Although limited in scope, the online encyclopedia features innovative design, pleasing color schemes, informative articles and curiosity-arousing diversions."

Scout Report: "The entries for topics in science, computers, and mathematics are particularly good. For instance, there is a wonderful entry on fractals and a well-written, concise history of cosmology."

A Brief History

The first site to use & teach HTML's successor, XHTML, EncycloZine is produced by Alan & Lucy Richmond, founders of the web's first commercially succesful site for web developers, Web Developer's Virtual Library, now owned by internet.com (formerly a part of Mecklermedia). We have many, many years of experience of scientific software development (most notably for the Hubble Space Telescope), the Internet, and Web Design.

I founded EncycloZine in 1998 as an exercise in XHTML (it was the web's first XHTML site), and as an encyclopedia comprising articles I'd written on astronomy and web development, and later, articles Lucy and I wrote or commissioned. We added Amazon books not only to generate revenue, but also to add value for our users - i.e. to help them identify books relevant to specific topics.

I've worked on it full time since 1998, and I'm very pleased that several respectable sources, and librarians, educators, and students appreciate it. We're not Britannica, but then, we don't require subscription (and I think younger folks and others find us easier to use).

Please Support EncycloZine!

Over the years, we've developed a few thousand pages of valuable content. We've tried very hard to make it as user-friendly as possible - easy to find and easy to read. One of our major innovations - that sets us apart from other encyclopedic sites - is that we give very brief topic overviews at the top levels, and proceed to expand them as you drill down. Another is that we suggest and recommend books for each topic. We continue to try to add value to the site, as we add more content. Please let us know of any suggestions for further improvement - thanks!

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