World Book Encyclopedia Reviewer's Comments
World Book Encyclopedia from Topics Entertainment offers a feature unique to this reference suite, a distance locator. This will tell you the distance between any two locations on a map, eliminating the need for a scale and conversion process.
A disadvantage to this software is a smaller database, only about ¼ the size of our gold product Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Suite. Twenty-five thousand and seven-hundred articles may sound like a lot, but after considering encyclopedias are supposed to cover all of the information in the world, 100,000 sounds better.
World Book's opening screen has two categories, search options and browse options. Under the search options, you can look up individual topics, words in the dictionary, locations on the world atlas and view timelines.
Under the browse options category, you can surf the ages and research important events that occurred in a particular age. Or, browse through all the information, search for images and view monthly articles.
After you click on one of the options above, World Book directs you to another page with icons at the top of the screen so you can navigate to different parts of the program.
Feature Set:
World Book Encyclopedia offers some practical features including a homework wizard that will walk you through your homework projects. You can create reports, charts, timelines, web pages and even design your own quizzes so you can prepare for tests.
This software doesn't have many online tools like live news, articles and updates. In addition, the timeline feature isn't as extensive as Britannica's.
Search Capabilities:
World Book comes with two search bars, a general search bar and a more selective search bar. When we searched for a particular topic using the general search, the program displayed many choices we could browse until we found what we were seeking.
The more selective search option lets you select the exact topic and category that you want to search.
Ease of Installation:
We didn't have any problems during the installation and setup of this product.
Help/Support:
World Book Encyclopedia provides an email address, where you can contact customer support. For quick reference, refer to the FAQs page and product manual. The software doesn't have phone support or a homepage.
Summary:
Overall, World Book Encyclopedia will benefit your studies and it doesn't come with a hefty price tag, just $29.99. If you're looking for something more extensive with a few more features, look at our #1 and #2 products by Britannica.
