This Browse A-Z Lists feature is new to the September 1997 release, as is a site map that provides the same search options in a different format. Other new features include a new search page and new navigation bars at the top of each page. Topic maps now direct the user from articles and index entries to related long articles, images, and Internet links. Now, there are numerous images related to The History of Western Painting, accessed by clicking on thumbnail images that accompany the individual articles. Internet links can be opened directly from the hit list, as well as from within individual articles.
Some articles have copious links that are very up to date.
There are 14 Internet links from Olympic Games, including the updates about the building of Olympic sites for the Sydney Summer Olympic Games in 2000, and the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics Home Page. Inclusion of links can be uneven. One suggestion to increase information is to link official government pages on the Web to the Nations of the World files. Nothing demonstrates the major strength of encyclopedias better than the Britannica Classics page. Encyclopedia articles are written by experts and eminent persons in the relevant disciplines and often serve as synthesis of what is known or theorized in that discipline or on a topic.