Lest you think Encyclopedia Britannica is to Wikipedia what moleskin notebooks are to blogs, check out what Britannica has been up to. It embraced widgets, Twitter, RSS, and is now introducing WebShare –a way for for bloggers and editors to link to content in the paid areas of Britannica, letting the blog’s or publication’s readers access that piece of content free. It’s still in a soft launch mode.

Why free, when everyone else is paying ($ 69.95) for the privilege? Britannica says it wants to give a blogger’s readers “background.” And no, the service is not aimed at A-list bloggers –those with low traffic qualify. Meaning, I suppose, that EB has realized the value of social media and has moved past the Wikipedia vs Britannica debate.

If you’re a content manager for your agency, give it a shot. Register here.

Britannica’s own blog and forum are very well managed. It covers topics such as Web 2.0, books, media, etc. I found an interesting piece on its nemesis, Wikipedia, titled Am I my brother’s Web 2.0 gatekeeper (the truth about Wikipedia.) OK, so it’s forcing the comparison, but it is really good to know that knowledge seekers now have two strong choices.

We don’t have to choose between old media and new media, between a flawed one and a poor also ran.