When Tom Panelas started working at Encyclopedia Britannica around 18 years ago, the company had inked a deal to make its content available through Lexis-Nexis. The idea at the time was that professional researchers would be interested in paying fees to access the information. ’Few people envisioned a time when direct or electronic publishing would happen in the consumer market,’ he recalls. How times have changed.

When Tom Panelas started working at Encyclopedia Britannica around

18 years ago, the company had inked a deal to make its content ...