Baidu Baike vs Brockhaus

Baidu Baike is a free web knowledge platform focused on Chinese-language information across many fields. Its homepage provides a search field for encyclopedia entries, recommended articles, and trending searches. Readers can also browse video and visual sections such as V百科, 图解百科, and 秒懂百科, along with museum entries in the 百科博物馆计划. Baidu describes the service as a wiki with expert-compiled content, columns, and videos for people seeking knowledge. Its examples of columns include the Encyclopedia of Intangible Cultural Heritage, Digital Museum, and Recorder of History.

Users can create entries and edit existing ones to correct or expand content. The guidance calls for concise, objective Chinese prose, structured with first- and second-level headings, and supported by reliable publicly published references. Submitted versions pass system filtering and may become current after basic checks. New entries should be proper names of public interest and must not duplicate an existing full name, abbreviation, or alias. Editing does not require payment, though submissions must comply with inclusion rules. Baidu was founded in 2000 and is headquartered in Beijing, China.

Brockhaus provides online reference works, courses, student training, and digital teaching materials for private customers, schools, and libraries. Its online encyclopedia offers expert-reviewed information across subject areas and is regularly updated. The School Lexicon supports secondary students doing research and preparing presentations or coursework, while the Children’s Lexicon presents child-oriented content through clickable graphics, images, video, and audio. A reading aid can read text aloud and translate articles into more than 60 languages. Brockhaus says subject experts and trained educators create its reference and course materials, which an independent editorial team checks. The service works on internet-connected digital devices. The company states that its servers are hosted in the EU and that it uses SSL encryption for data sent through its websites. The Children’s Lexicon is described as ad-free, without external links, and GDPR-compliant. Individual plans have a 14-day free trial. Adult encyclopedia plans cost €6.99 a month or €69.99 a year; teen and child plans cost €8.99 a month or €89.99 a year.