The Store Norske Leksikon (, abbreviated SNL) is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia.About the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (English) It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon.
The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian published sites, with up to 3.5 million unique visitors per month.SNL annual report 2022 (Norwegian)
Paper editions (1978–2007)
The SNL was created in 1978, when the two publishing houses Aschehoug and Gyldendal merged their encyclopedias and created the company Kunnskapsforlaget.
Up until 1978 the two publishing houses of Aschehoug and Gyldendal, Norway's two largest, had published and , respectively. The respective first editions were published in 1906–1913 (Aschehoug) and 1933–1934 (Gyldendal).History of the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (Norwegian)
The slump in sales of paper-based encyclopedias around the turn of the 21st century hit Kunnskapsforlaget hard, but a fourth edition of the paper encyclopedia was secured by a grant of ten million Norwegian kroner from the foundation Fritt Ord in 2003. The fourth edition consisted of 16 volumes, a total of 12,000 pages and 280,000 entries.Kunnskapsforlages historie (Norwegian)
List of paper editions
First edition, 1978–1981, 12 volumes. Chief editors Olaf Kortner, Preben Munthe, National Library of Norway: Store norske leksikon, 1978 (Norwegian) Second edition, 1986–1989, 15 volumes. Chief editors Olaf Kortner, Preben Munthe, . Third edition, 1995–1998, 16 volumes. Chief editor Petter Henriksen. Fourth edition, 2005–2007, 16 volumes. Chief editor Petter Henriksen.
Online encyclopedia
The online edition of SNL was launched in 2000, and had both private and institutional subscribers. The paywall was removed on 25 February 2009, and the online encyclopedia became free to use.Press release from Kunnskapsforlaget, 16.09.2008
On 12 March 2010, announced that they would close the online encyclopedia because of lacklustre sales and failing revenue. It was also announced that the articles would not be given to the Wikimedia Foundation, with chief editor Petter Henriksen stating that: "It is important that the people behind the articles remain visible".
In 2011, the foundations Fritt Ord and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB acquired the encyclopedia, hired Anne Marit Godal as the new chief editor and established a new organisation, assisted by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association. In 2014 ('the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia Association') was established; members of the association are Norwegian universities and other non-profit organisations.About the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia Association (Norwegian) In 2016 became the chief editor.Journalisten.no: I 15 år har Erik Bolstad utviklet nye tjenester i NRK. Nå skal han lede et leksikon (Norwegian)
As of 2023, the SNL has around 200,000 articles online, updated by approximately 1,200 affiliated academics. The SNL accepts contributions from users, but all changes to the articles are verified by a topic expert before publication.About the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (Norwegian)
Two years earlier than 2026, the encyclopedia disallowed use of artificial intelligence, in regard to [creating text for] its articles.Roman Eliassen. "Nei til gurgling og gulp". Klassekampen (2026-06-26) P. 2
References
External links
About the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia