World Book 1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition
Reviewed by Cynthia A. Sorrels
Published by IBM/World Book

Age Group: Age 8 and Up, Adults Type: Reference Price: $79.95 US

Description:

World Book has always been known for its reliable, easily understandable presentations, and working with IBM, they have translated that into the multimedia world beautifully. The interface is refreshingly unpretentious; simple to navigate, and an incredible depth and range of information is at your fingertips. Online access is just a click away.

The first release of the World Book Encyclopedia was in 1917 - all eight volumes of it. In the 1960's, World Book Encyclopedias in print form cost several hundred dollars (a lot of money at that time.) My own parents were never able to afford this for us, but our local library owned a set, which we all used for our school reports.

My children have an over-abundance of multimedia encyclopedias because of my occupation. We enjoy looking at them all, but World Book is the one we'll keep. No, WB is not as sleek as Encarta, but it does have more information available, and it's easier to work with. Even our toddlers were highly impressed that pictures of their pet fish were featured!

Notes:

Installation is quick and easy; an uninstall program is included. We found that the movies were included on the second disk, to minimize switching.

Features:

Full-text of the print World Book Encyclopedia, quick and simple searches, many articles, movies, panoramic 3D views, music, timelines, browsing feature ("Just Looking"), online updates, Month in Review, Our Century, Online Library, selected websites, simulations and interactive demonstrations, sticky note, outline features, highlighter, a dictionary and full featured Atlas. This is THE encyclopedia!

If you have any problems when using Kids Domain then please contact Cindy, who will be happy to help where possible.

[Beginners - Ages 2-5 - Ages 4-8 - Ages 8 up - Grownups]

[Subject Indexes - Kids Home - Online Games - Grownups Place]

Copyright ⌐ Kids Domain, 1998.