2001 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
Deluxe Edition

"An Easy-to-Use and Comprehensive Encyclopedia for the Whole Family!"

     
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Type of Product

The 2001 edition of the Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia has a a variety of new features and improvements, including a new Research Center, more than 50,000 editorially selected Internet links, a new Topic Navigator that organizes 150,000 articles and media entries, a new Spanish dictionary, grolierand a redesigned interface. The easy-to-use Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia has been designed to deliver age-appropriate, quality content for students both in the classroom and at home. It comes on two CDs and combines comprehensive content with multimedia features and expanded Internet links. It also seamlessly connects to articles in two other online Grolier encyclopedias (New Book of Knowledge and the Encyclopedia Americana) to provide up-to-date information for a wide variety of academic levels. The program includes 60,000+ articles, 50,000 article-to-Internet links, 38,600 EA and NBK Web Links, 6,000+ new and updated articles, 15,500 images, 1,200 maps, 150+ panoramas, 174 videos, 140 Research Starters, 16+ hours of sound, and free monthly updates. Grolier's provides a fast and easy way for the whole family to access current and up-to-date information on the CDs or on-line. You can also read a review of the previous versions of the encyclopedia by clicking on the following links: 2000 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia and 1999 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Price: $49.95. It is available for both the PC and the Macintosh. You can check out Grolier's website for other software titles: http://gi.grolier.com

     
User Level

As with previous versions of Grolier's Encyclopedia, this latest update has been designed specifically to be used by different family members who have individual informational needs. It incorporates material from three encyclopedias in one software package. It is useful for all levels of encyclopedia users: beginning, intermediate, and advanced because it is very intuitive; has a straightforward interface; and includes a variety of search and browse functions, both simple and advanced.

  1. The New Book of Knowledge (online)--For elementary-age children and their parents, this encyclopedia includes selected, easy-to-understand articles and basic background information.
  2. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (on disc)--For junior high and high school level students, this encyclopedia is excellent for completing homework and term papers.
  3. Encyclopedia Americana (online)--For high school, college and adult users, this encyclopedia provides thousands of authoritative, in-depth articles geared to more sophisticated users.
     
Features
  • Content-rich Articles: Includes over 60,000 comprehensive articles available on-disc and online (38,000+ on disc, 22000 Encyclopedia Americana and The New Book of Knowledge). Includes more than 6,000 new and revised articles for this edition. (Increased)
  • Web Links: Features more than 50,000 links to World Wide Web, including 24,000+ new links to editorially chosen Web sites. Links with content summaries are updated monthly. (Increased)
  • Topic Navigator: Helps users navigate through 150,000 text and media entries editorially organized under 12,000 easy-to-access topics. All relevant information on a specific topic is organized in one area to help users quickly find the information they need. The user's browsing path is displayed to provide research "tracks." (New Feature)
  • Research Center: Includes 140 brand new, curriculum-based Research Starters, created by a team of educational experts. Each Research Starter contains an overview with tips, thought-provoking questions, GME article links and other supporting reference resources to help students jump-start their research. The new "Getting Started" section provides the basics for conducting effective research while using the Internet, the GME and other sources. (New Feature)
  • Redesigned Interface: A new interface design with a larger display region and simplified navigation makes finding information faster, easier and more intuitive. The redesigned List Panel displays every available encyclopedia item in a new easy-to-view, easy-to-search listing, creating a path for easy tracking. (Improved)
  • Reference Sources: Two new powerful reference sources are added for this edition: dictionaryEnhanced Roget's Thesaurus and The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. Users now have the ability not only to look up a word's definition in Houghton Mifflin's The American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition but also find its synonym/antonym and its Spanish spelling and meaning. (New Features)
  • Related-Media Gallery: New for 2001, this feature displays large-sized previews of all article-related media items such as pictures, videos, panoramas and factboxes. Users can scroll through pages of eye-catching media samples for a particular article. Double-clicking on a picture takes the users directly to the full version. Available in Windows version only. (New Feature)
  • Timeline/Chronologies: Completely redesigned, this feature contains an additional 10 times more content with 2,000 new and improved text entries, pictures and customized maps. Timelines are organized into 24 visually dynamic screens and over 100 new chronological presentations, providing media and outlines of the most important historical events within particular eras. With simplified navigation tools and two-way linking (from timelines to articles and vice-versa) users will find time travel fast and easy. (Improved)
  • Atlas: Contains 1,2000 maps with improved graphics, more detail and more consistent navigation controls. Geopolitical maps are more precise and are updated to reflect recent world events. All maps have a larger viewing area, more easily recognizable icons and enhanced graphics. (Improved)
  • Free New and Updated Articles Monthly: New and updated articles more available online provide the most current information on both existing topics and those not yet available on the disc.
     
Review

Installation: The program is easy to install and takes very little space on your hard drive. You have the choice of installing QuickTime for movies, if you do not already have it.

Interface. The interface has been redesigned to make it more intuitive and easy-to-use. The interfaceprogram has a larger viewing area for pictures, text, videos and maps and more intuitive navigational features. There are three main parts to the screen from which all the main features and functions are accessible: the Features Bar (top), the Index (left), and the Content Region (right).

  1. Features Bar--The Features Bar provides easy access to all the features of the encyclopedia.
  2. Index--The Index lets you Browse, Search, or use Markers.
  3. Content Region--Articles and media are displayed in the Content Region. Tools and tabs relating to the displayed item also appear here.

Features Bar. The Features Bar includes six tabs for: All, Articles, Media, Atlas, Timeline, and Research. To give you an overview of how the program works, I will discuss the six tabs and what features are found under each tab.

    1. All. If you click the All button on the Features Bar, you can browse a list of all items in the encyclopedia.

    2. Articles. You use the Articles button to list all the GME's articles in the Index. Most of the longer articles contain outlines, indicated by an Outline tab. Links to other articles are indicated by words in color in the text. The Related Media Gallery tab lists all the pictures, maps, etc. associated with the article.

    3. Media. Under the Media tab is where you will see a scrollable alphabetic list of media in media gallerythe GME. You can restrict browsing to a single media type or look at all. Different types of media include: pictures; sounds; panoramas; fact boxes; science questions and answers; tables; videos; multimedia maps; animations; and cutaways. There is a new Related Media Gallery that displays large previews of all article-related media items within the article display region in a "picture show" fashion--six to a page. (Available on Windows only).

4. Atlas. The Atlas contains maps of the world, countries, states, cities, and North Atlantic, Arctic, Indian and other major ocean floors, plus topics such as exploration, history, and weather. Some of the different types of maps that feature specific information include: atlas Geopolitical maps show cities; Thematic maps show agricultural information and climate zones; Historical maps show important events in the area; and Explorer maps show routes of famous adventurers. Ocean floor maps show geographic formations such as trenches, basins and ridges. The navigational features in the Atlas have been revamped to make it easier to use. There are "drill-down" navigational features that allow viewers to quickly and easily narrow their focus to smaller and smaller geographical areas. You can use the Index to select maps. As you "roam" a map, the cursor will change from a pointer to a globe to indicate a link to another map, a turned-over page icon for a link to an article, or a camera icon for a link to a Point of Interest Photograph.

5. Timelines. A completely revamped Timeline offers more interactivity and 10 times more content. Timelines and Chronologies show the relationships between timelinehistorical events. The expanded content is based upon the curriculum in today's schools. Timelines include more than 2,000 history-related text entries, pictures and maps, as well as more than 100 detailed chronology presentations, providing a snapshot of the most relevant dates and related historical events. Articles link directly to Timeline topics and vice versa.

6. Research. The new Research Center includes a section titled "Getting Started." This feature is designed to guide young users through the basics of conducting effective research starterresearch and writing papers. In this collection, you will find information on topics such as how to use the Internet and library as effective research tools, how to cite reference resources, how to organize finds, and how to use the encyclopedia. The Research Center also has 140 new and improved Research Starters. These are designed by a team of education experts and let kids get a jump-start on research in several core curriculum-based areas, including: Science and Math, History, Social Studies, and Literature and the Arts.

Panoramas. More than 150 present-day and historical panoramas can be found in the Grolier Encyclopedia. Points-of-interest, scenes and historical sites bring the world to your computer screen. They show sweeping views of such places as the Antarctic Landscape, the Grand Canyon, the World War I battlefields and the Panama Canal under construction.

Science Question & Answer. Based on the New York Times Book of Science Questions and Answers, this feature teaches you about science by answering hundreds of questions, many of them drawn from everyday life. (You must register the encyclopedia to be able to use this feature.)

Search Features. The Grolier Encyclopedia has strong search features. You can perform simple and Complex word searches and restrict a search to specified parts of the encyclopedia. You may narrow or broaden your search. For instance, you could find two words in the same article or search only among articles and maps. By default, the encyclopedia searches the entire encylopedia--all articles and media for all topics. By applying Search Filters, you can restrict a search to certain categories of information and/or encyclopedia features. Wild cards can be used to find words with a common root or when you're not certain how to spell a word. There are two types "*" and "?."

Tools. The encyclopedia offers a variety of Tools to help you find and use information. These include the Dictionary, Markers, and Topic Links.

  1. Dictionary--The American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition is integrated with the Deluxe Edition of the GME. The Enhanced Roget's US Electronic Thesaurus and The American Heritage Spanish Dictionary are also included.
  2. Markers--This feature allows you to "collect" encyclopedia items of all types for future reference. Once you have a Marker List, you can add any open item to the collection. This tool is easy to use and lets you organize any material you want to save.
  3. Topic Links--Clicking on the Topic Links button brings up the Topic Navigator. topic navigatorThe new Topic Navigator does the work of editorially organizing 150,000 text and media entries in the encyclopedia into 12,000 easy-to-access topics. A powerful organizational research took, the Topic Navigator allows students to navigate from a broad collection of popular topics such as "baseball," "U.S. Civil War" and "dinosaurs," to specific relevant articles, pictures and other multimedia resources quickly and easily. The user's browsing path is also displayed, giving perspective and providing research "tracks."

Word Processor. You may open you word processing program from the encyclopedia to quickly place notes and quotes in papers, documents, etc., via standard copy and paste commands. You must first set up this capability by selecting Word Processor from Preferences on the Edit menu.

Toolbar. The Toolbar includes standard commands (Print, Copy, Save) which allow you to use the GME with other programs, plus the mark button, which enables you to add an item to a Marker List.web links

Grolier Web Links. GME has online links: (1) Encyclopedia America Online Article Links; (2) New Book of Knowledge Online Article Links; (3) Internet Index for fast, easy access to more than 50,000 Grolier-selected Internet links; and (4) Hundreds of article updates provided free every month.

     
Personal Comments
The 2001 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition is a valuable upgrade. The redesigned interface makes it easier to use. The new Research Center is a great aid to students, and the revamped Timeline is more amazing than ever.
     
System Requirements

Windows:

Pentium 100
Windows 2000, 98, 95, or NT 4.0
16 MB of memory; 32 MB recommended
20 MB free hard-disk space minimal; 150 MB optimal
16-bit stereo Sound Blaster card and speakers
Double-speed CD-ROM drive (300 KB/sec or higher transfer rate)
8-bit 640x480 resolution; 16-bit 800x600 recommended
Apple QuickTime 4.0 (4.1.2 supplied with product)
Direct X version 3.0 or later recommended by Apple for QT4
Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device
Printer (optional)

Macintosh:

PowerMac 6100/66
Mac OS operating system 7.5.5
8 MB of available RAM (in addition to that used by system)
Double-speed CD-ROM drive (300 KB/sec or higher transfer rate)
8-bit 640x480 resolution; 16-bit 800x600 recommended
Apple QuickTime 4.0 (4.1.2 supplied with product)

Optional Online Requirements:

Modem (required for online features only)
Access to the World Wide Web using an Internet Service Provider

     
Other Goodies
  • It includes a 45-day free trial version of the software program Cyber Patrol. It is a security service that allows you to block your child's access to inappropriate websites.
  • Through an agreement with America Online, users who don't already have an Internet Service Provider can access the Internet for free for 500 hours.
     

Graphics: Adobe Photoshop 5.5
Web Page Editor: Macromedia Dreamweaver 3.0