In 2002, the Standard edition of the Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia was a single disk CD-ROM version and has a User’s Guide. It is a quick-reference source for articles used for report writing and general knowledge. This was the first encyclopedia to ever be released on CD-ROM. This cd-rom has 39,000 articles at three reading levels. The longer articles have outlines. There are links from article-to-article as well as web links. A Related Media tab lists all pictures, maps, etc. that are associated with a particular article. In the atlas there are links to other maps, to articles, and to point-of-interest photographs. Articles can be browsed using scrollable alphabetical list in the Features toolbar. Both simple and complex searches can also be done using the Search tab. The Topics tab gives you trees that can be easily followed. Research Starters guides you through step-by-step instructions on how to research and write a school report.
This multimedia encyclopedia includes the American Heritage College Dictionary and Roget’s II: The New Thesaurus. Has timelines that range from 4000 BC to 2000 AD in the 2002 edition. The encyclopedia covers both historic and current topics.
This encyclopedia is geared toward middle school and high school students for you in the home but may also be found in the library.
This is one of the pieces of software that requires the disk be in the drive. This helps prevent multi-user abuse of this relatively inexpensive encyclopedia. It is easy to use, and has an excellent price. It has monthly updates of Web and online links. There however are problems with its technical support. Some articles are very brief to the point that you wonder why they are included at all.
LCSH: 1. Encyclopedias and dictionaries—Interactive multimedia
American Reference Books Annual, 2002 edition says “…goes a step beyond to provide videos, sound bytes, and interactive features for eager young learners and their teachers…a highly recommended resource.”