"Encyclopedia Galactica" first appeared in Isaac Asimov's short story "Foundation" ("Astounding Science Fiction", May 1942), later republished as "The Encyclopedists" in the short-story collection "Foundation" (1951). Asimov's "Encyclopedia Galactica" was a compendium of all knowledge then available in the Galactic Empire, intended to preserve that knowledge in a remote region of the galaxy in the event of a foreseen galactic catastrophe. The "Encyclopedia" is later revealed to be an element in an act of misdirection, with its real purpose being to concentrate a group of knowledgeable scientists on a remote, resource-poor planet named Terminus, with the long-term aim of revitalizing the technologically stagnant and scientifically dormant empire. Originally published in a physical medium, it later becomes computerized and subject to continual change.