Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia

by Larry Anders, Librarian, Tampa PC Users Group

To start out the New Year differently, I thought I would do something new myself…. re-review a product for the third time. I first reviewed the original issue of Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (GME) in 1994, then again in 1996. With each new issue it keeps getting better and bigger. Now, the Deluxe Edition comes with two CDs full of interactive information. Considering each CD can hold up to 680 megabytes of data. You do the math. It’s loaded. The 1998 edition works with both Windows 3.1 and 95, but if you’re not using Windows 95 yet, quit waiting. You’re only depriving yourself of a much more enjoyable time between you and your computer.

When GME is first installed, Apple’s Quick Time movie player is installed and you are given a chance to register on-line. If you register on-line you are then given the opportunity to install 36 new free fonts. After that you’re ready to start an interactive, learning-by-doing experience you, and/or your children, are sure to enjoy. Grolier has been doing this for over 100 years, and I believe they continue that tradition with GME 1998.

The initial screen gives you an immediate opportunity to tour what’s available in GME, or you can dive right in and explore yesterday and today on your own with help usually just a click away. The 1998 edition of GME has:

• Over 35,000 articles, including 1,100 new and 4,200 updated articles.
• Over 15,000 images, including 3,700 new pictures.
• 31 Guided Tours that guide you through specific topics with related sights, sounds and articles.
• 1,200 geopolitical, historical and thematic maps that include multimedia features.
• 400 points of interest.
• Over 15 hours of sound.
• 10 custom interfaces.
• 1996-97 Yearbook, including multimedia video coverage, current events, chronology of events, and photos of the month for ‘96-97.
• On-line Knowledge Explorer that includes the Grolier Internet Index of related sites, links from GME articles to two additional Grolier encyclopedias on-line, Encyclopedia Americana and The New Book of Knowledge and monthly updates that mean your articles are never really out-of-date.
• The American Heritage College Dictionary, available by just clicking on a word or just typing in the word for a definition.
• Drill-Down Atlases link map to map allowing you to drill down to smaller and smaller geographical areas, to points of interest photographs and related articles. You can also change from geopolitical to thematic to historical maps of the same area.
• Multiplex Videos create a multimedia learning experience by combining all the videos on a given topic on a single screen.
• Interactive Timelines allow you to explore the relationships between events in world history by knowing what was happening in one part of the world while something else was happening elsewhere.
• Free Activity Book developed with teachers and other education experts provides fun family projects to help you become familiar with the many features of GME.

Whether you just got your first computer this Christmas or you’re an old pro at computing, I don’t think you can go wrong with Grolier’s Multimedia Encyclopedia for 1998. In either case you’ll find GME easy to install, understand and use. GME makes learning come to life with exciting and innovative features. The easy-to-use interactive modules let you explore the world in all its geographic, scientific, artistic, and cultural wonder. And under Windows you’re always just a click away from your word processor.

List price is under $50 with a $20 mail-in rebate if you are a previous owner of GME, Microsoft Encarta, Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia, IBM World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica and if you purchase by June 30, 1998. You can find out more about GME at http://www.grolier.com. u