My parents bought us the World Book Encyclopedia when we were kids.  I loved browsing through the pages learning about new things.  By the time I was ten I think I had read the whole set.  Fast forward to today and I am still hooked on the encyclopedia, Jimmy Wales’ internet version called Wikipedia.  I use it every week - it is simply the best resource I have found for information on everything.  It suprises me how many people have never heard of Wikipedia, much less used it to uncover information.  Wikipedia describes itself as:

Wikipedia (IPA: /ËŒwiË?kiË?ˈpiË?di.É™/, or /ËŒwɪkiË?ˈpiË?di.É™/, else /ËŒwɪkɪˈpiË?di.É™/) is an international Web-based free-content encyclopedia project. It exists as a wiki, a website that allows visitors to edit its content. The word Wikipedia itself is a portmanteau of the words wiki and encyclopedia. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers, allowing most articles to be changed by anyone with access to the website. Wikipedia’s main servers are in Tampa, Florida, with additional servers in Amsterdam and Seoul.

The best part of Wikipedia is YOUR ability to add information to the system.  If you are an expert on a subject you can add your knowledge to the wiki, don’t worry the community will keep you honest (if you make a mistake they someone else will edit it for you).