Encyclopaedia bosses check facts after Civil War error spotted

Monday, 21-05-2012

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Encyclopaedia bosses check facts after Civil War error spotted

Encyclopaedia bosses check facts after Civil War error spotted

One of the world's most trusted references was busy double-checking its facts on Ireland tonight after giving a grossly inaccurate account of the country's civil war.

A concise version of Encyclopaedia Britannica which was first published seven years ago wrongly described the 1922 conflict over partition as a war between Catholics in the south and Protestants in the north.

Editors worked through the night to ensure the extraordinary mistake has not been repeated in online versions used by 4,000 schools in a special e-learning programme.

Ian Grant, Encyclopaedia Britannica managing director, said the offending article may have been wrongly compiled by an editor attempting to condense complex history.

"This is very rare," he said.

The error was carried on a hand-held device first sold six or seven years ago by Japanese firm Seiko but was only spotted this week.

Mr Grant said his editorial teams in London and Chicago were confident online databases, which are updated regularly, do not carry mistakes on Irish history.

He could not explain for definite how the error had been made.

But he suggested an inexperienced editor may have attempted to explain the civil war in a very small article and confused history with a current mistaken perception about sectarianism and the Troubles.

The bitter conflict saw pro- and anti-Treaty forces fight over the partition of Ireland which divided the island into six counties in the north becoming Northern Ireland and the 26 counties then known as the Free State.

"We do respond very quickly and our editors have been up all night looking at this," he insisted.

"It's important to get this thing right. If there is a mistake Britannica will always admit it and correct it."

Mr Grant said editors were checking to make sure the error had only been carried on the old hand-held device.

Encyclopaedia Britannica contains about 64 million words of text from 4,500 contributors around the world and is put together by about 100 editors.

Their offices can receive up to a dozen complaints or queries each week mainly concerning dates.

The Department of Education announced just last month the country's 4,000 schools would have free access to Encyclopaedia Britannica and World Book online databases as part of an e-learning initiative.