SparkNotes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SparkNotes is a student-oriented website. Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, and Chris Coyne started the company in 1999. In December 2002, SparkNotes, with millions of registered users (as of Jan 2005 around 10 million) became the most popular stand-alone education site on the Internet[citation needed]. Originally a collection of free online study guides for books and associated message board services, current owner Barnes & Noble now markets printed versions of the guides in the United States in a format similar to that of CliffsNotes, which Barnes & Noble no longer sells. The website also offers several pay-per-use premium services related to SAT tests that enjoyed great popularity in their non-pay-per-use days. In 2002 they expanded to test prep books, with the lead title The New SAT & PSAT. They also have several SAT Power Tactics books and SAT SparkCharts. Also, SparkNotes offers such extras as Sparktests and message boards including forums. Like CliffsNotes, SparkNotes is banned in many schools because of a perceived cheating problem.[citation needed]
SparkNotes services include paraphrases of Shakespeare in modern English with the original English side-by-side, guides to a variety of standardized tests, and Daily Sparks, which are page-a-day exercises for high school teachers. SparkNotes has also recently moved into educational publishing with books like Poetry Classics. SparkNotes is also the publisher of FlashKids, a series of educational books for K-8 students.
SparkNotes was originally a part of the website The Spark.
