encyclopaedia companies.

As little as two months ago the 30-year veteran salesman was packing up his desk after Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. made his job redundant in a cost cutting measure.

Computer technology advances such as the Internet, CD-Roms and the need to stay competitive prompted the company to move the popular encyclopaedia from the printed page to the computer screen and the World Wide Web.

The changes came into effect on June 1 and affected all sales representatives in Canada and the United States. The company however, still kept its book sales division in the Caribbean.

Fortunately for Mr. Tatem, the publicity surrounding his redundancy in The Royal Gazette led to him taking on another sales position for the Groliar Society -- which produces the Americana Book of Knowledge -- just one month after Encyclopaedia Brittanica had relieved him of his job.

"They made me an attractive offer and I took it,'' he said.

A copy of The Royal Gazette story also made its way to Encyclopaedia Britannica's head office in Chicago.

Given Mr. Tatem's sterling record -- he has worked for Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. as a salesman since 1966 and as sold more than 8,000 encyclopaedias during that time -- the company decided to switch his supplier.

"They used to consider Bermuda a part of the United States,'' he explained.

"So when they decided to close down the American and Canadian divisions, Bermuda was included along with them.

"They decided to keep the field sales portion of the Caribbean division open and placed me under the International sales division whose headquarters are in London.

"Now I am selling both the Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Americana Book of Knowledge.

"The public reaction was amazing. The majority of the people who spoke to me after I was let go were sympathetic because they thought it would be a terrible loss.

"Many families still want their children to have the printed word because not everyone is computer literate. And I have told them not to despair -- the Encyclopaedia Britannica is still here.''