AboutTable of Contents
OverviewWelcome to Grolier Online. Grolier Online is published by Scholastic Library Publishing, Inc., a division of Scholastic Inc. It includes seven encyclopedia databases: Encyclopedia America, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, The New Book of Knowledge, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, America the Beautiful, Lands and Peoples, and The New Book of Popular Science. Click here for comprehensive information on the many features available from within each of these encyclopedia databases. This area has been designed to provide you with general information about our site, including announcements of new and upgraded products, policies and procedures, and copyrights and acknowledgements. It also provides troubleshooting tips and quick answers to questions frequently asked of our customer-service staff. If you have a question or are experiencing difficulty accessing our service, and the tips below do not resolve the issue, we encourage you to call our customer-service and technical support line at 1-888-326-6546. The line is staffed every business day from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern time (US). During non-business hours you may leave a voicemail message or email us at gosupport@scholasticlibrary.com Product AnnouncementsScholastic
Library Publishing releases Grolier Online Version 2.0 Scholastic Library Publishing releases Grolier Online Version 2.0Scholastic Library Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of a completely redesigned and upgraded version of Grolier Online. Released in June 2005, Grolier Online Version 2.0, is now much more powerful, and contains many new features, all aimed at helping students with research and research skills, as well as with providing teachers, and librarians the important teaching and research tools that they need for their classrooms and media centers. And, because the research needs of younger students differ dramatically from older, more sophisticated students and adults, two distinct and unique research environments have been created: Grolier Online Passport, and Grolier Online Kids. Grolier Online PassportGrolier Online Passport, created for older students and adults, still provides quick and easy access your encyclopedia databases, but it also contains the following new items: GO Tutorial. Located at the upper left-hand side of the home page, the GO Tutorial provides a good, basic, 10-minute introduction to Grolier Online's features and homepages/environments. (Note that it does not focus on the encyclopedia databases themselves.) Flash, html, and printable versions are available. The Tutorial includes standard controls like pause, next section, previous section, and stop, as well as a Table of Contents, which provides quick navigation to specific sections of interest. (Note: this is the feature is identical in GO Kids and GO Passport.) Find it Fast! The Grolier Online search box. Located at the top, center of the Grolier Online Passport homepage, as well as on all subsequent pages, this powerful, new search feature enables the user to search, encyclopedia articles, magazines, websites, and media simultaneously, by simply entering a search term or terms and clicking GO. "More like this" will appear beneath the entry for each encyclopedia article returned. Clicking this link will cause the search engine to return a new set of search results, namely items that are similar to the result that was selected. "Did You Mean?" will appear on the search results page, but only when few, or no, search results are found for any given search. A new and improved GO Atlas. The new GO Atlas is an interactive, educational atlas that can be used in several different ways. First, the user may browse through geopolitical maps "drilling down" until they eventually reach articles relating to countries, states, cities bodies of water etc., as well as to photos of many points of interest (indicated via a photo icon on a map). The user may also navigate between map types, moving from geopolitical to thematic, historical, and exploration where these exist, and they may now search maps for specific locations. Longitude and latitude information is also available for all major cities, as is a distance calculator, which provides mileage calculations (as the crow flies). Feature Showcase. Feature Showcase, is a new, a multimedia-rich interactive learning module with links to related encyclopedia resources. This feature will be updated 3 to 4 times per year with new high-interest topics tied to the curriculum whenever possible. These visually rich, interactive learning modules include interesting text, photos, videos, and quizzes, which are great for classroom use as well as self-guided explorations by students. Flash and QuickTime, or Flash and Window's Media Player are required to play the full multimedia version, but a rich html version is also offered for those users who do not have the appropriate players installed. Today is... A daily feature highlighting birthdays and historical events associated with each day of the year. Users can view interesting information on the current date, or search for other dates that are of interest to them by using the "What happened on another day?" search area. Also included in Today Is... is a link to the Library of Congress American Memory site, which also contains additional interesting information. NewsNow. This feature is a comprehensive news area, designed to address current events needs of older students. It includes daily news from the Associated Press (updated with four new stories Monday through Friday); three or four weekly feature stories (some with lesson plans and other teacher resources); International News Desk, also updated weekly and featuring news briefs from around the world; World Newspapers, a collection of hundreds of online newspapers from around the world; and From the Editor's Desk, updated weekly with three rotating features: Pro/Con debates, Editor's Picks, and Editorial Opinion, all aimed at teaching older students critical thinking skills using current events. For Educators. The goal of this feature is to create a centralized area where educators can find professional development resources, as well as resources to help them better utilize Grolier Online in the classroom, library, and media center. For Educators includes a collection of Lesson plans organized and searchable by grade or subject, each correlated to National Curriculum Standards. A quick note about the standards to which we're correlating: There are as yet no unified, federally sanctioned national curriculum standards, but in response to the U.S. Dept of Education's recommendation that all schools have "challenging and clear standards of achievement and accountability for all children," several professional organizations have voluntarily created educational standards or guidelines to be used on a national level. These include the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Academies of Science, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Center for Arts Education, and the National Center for History in the Schools, as well as several others. It is to these guidelines that we are correlating for each subject area. A weekly feature, "Teaching the News," creates a complete lesson plan around a selected current events story from NewsNow. A direct link to Pro/Con also provides easy access to online debates. Professional Resources, a collection of Web links for educators, provides access to information on such topics as education policy and reform, professional development, and technology in the classroom. And finally, links to other Grolier Online resources—the Grolier Online User's Guide, Newsletter, and Update, as well as the Grolier Online Tutorial—are all available here as well. The Grolier Online Passport environment and homepage are ADA section 508 compliant. Grolier Online KidsThe second new research environment, Grolier Online Kids, has been created for younger students. It too contains a number of new and powerful features, including: GO Tutorial. Located at the upper left-hand side of the home page, the GO Tutorial provides a good, basic, 10-minute introduction to Grolier Online features and homepages/environments. (Note that it does not focus on the encyclopedia databases themselves.) Flash, html, and printable versions are available. Includes standard controls like pause, next section, previous section, and stop, as well as a Table of Contents, which provides quick navigation to specific sections of interest. (Note: this is the feature is identical in GO Kids and GO Passport.) Find it Fast! The Grolier Online search box. Located at the top, center of the Grolier Online Kids homepage, as well as on all subsequent pages, this powerful, new search feature now enables the user to search, encyclopedia articles, magazines, websites, and media simultaneously by simply entering a search term or terms and clicking GO. Additionally, in the Grolier Online Kids environment only, EA search results will be excluded from the search result set. EA articles will still be available however by clicking the "For More Advanced Results from Encyclopedia America" button located toward the top left side of the article search results page. Note that this option only appears if the customer has licensed the Encyclopedia Americana. "More like this" will appear beneath the entry for each encyclopedia article returned. Clicking this link will cause the search engine to return a new set of search results, namely items that are similar to the result that was selected. "Did You Mean?" will appear on the search results page, but only when few, or no, search results are found for any given search. New and improved GO Atlas. The GO Atlas is an interactive, educational atlas that can be used in several different ways. First, the user may browse through geopolitical maps "drilling down" until they eventually reach articles relating to countries, states, cities bodies of water etc., as well as to photos of many points of interest (indicated via a photo icon on a map). They may also navigate between map types, moving from geopolitical to thematic, historical, and exploration where these exist, and they may now search maps for specific locations. Longitude and latitude information is also available for all major cities, as is a distance calculator, which provides mileage calculations (as the crow flies). Note that this feature is identical in GO Passport and GO Kids. Feature Showcase. A new, multimedia-rich interactive learning module with links to related encyclopedia resources has also been included in the GO Kids research environment. This feature will be updated 3 to 4 times per year with new high-interest topics tied to the curriculum whenever possible. These visually rich, interactive learning modules include interesting text, photos, videos, and quizzes, which are great for classroom use as well as self-guided explorations by students. Flash and QuickTime, or Flash and Window's Media Player are required to play the full multimedia version, but a rich html version is also offered for those users who do not have the appropriate players installed. Note that the same topic will usually be covered in both the Kids and Passport versions, but the comprehensiveness, and depth will be tailored for each environment. Today is... A daily feature highlighting birthdays and historical events associated with each day of the year. Users can view interesting information on the current date, or search for other dates that are of interest to them by using the "What happened on another day?" search area. Also included in Today Is... is a link to the Library of Congress American Memory site, which also contains additional interesting information. This feature is identical in GO Kids and GO Passport. NewsNow. This feature includes three news stories, and these will be updated weekly. All will include lesson plans, FastFacts and other enhancements such as Read More when applicable. An archive, organized by topic is also be included. For Educators. The goal of this feature is to create a centralized area where educators can find professional development resources, as well as resources to for help them better utilize Grolier Online in the classroom, library, and media center. For Educators includes a collection of Lesson plans organized and searchable by grade or subject, each correlated to National Curriculum Standards. A quick note about the standards to which we're correlating: There are as yet no unified, federally sanctioned national curriculum standards, but in response to the U.S. Dept of Education's recommendation that all schools have "challenging and clear standards of achievement and accountability for all children," several professional organizations have voluntarily created educational standards or guidelines to be used on a national level. These include the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, the National Academies of Science, the National Council for the Social Studies, the National Center for Arts Education, and the National Center for History in the Schools, as well as several others. It is to these guidelines that we are correlating for each subject area. A weekly feature, "Teaching the News," creates a complete lesson plan around a selected current events story from NewsNow. Note that there is no link to Pro/Con from the GO Kids environment, only from GO Passport. Professional Resources, a collection of Web links for educators, provides access to information on such topics as education policy and reform, professional development, and technology in the classroom. And finally, links to other Grolier Online resources—the Grolier Online User's Guide, Newsletter, and Update, as well as the Grolier Online Tutorial—are all available here as well. This feature will be identical in both versions. The Grolier Online Kids environment and homepage are ADA section 508 compliant. Users may select the environment which best meets their research needs, and may toggle freely between them. Grolier Online releases La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, Version 2.0Scholastic Library Publishing is pleased to announce the launch of a redesigned version of La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, Grolier Online's Spanish-language encyclopedia. Released in August 2004, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre online now features—in addition to more than 18,000 articles, 7,500 images, and hundreds of fact boxes and tables—timelines covering world history, Spanish-language news stories, a dynamic Spanish atlas, category browse, teacher resources, and the "Aula de español" module, developed for Spanish-language learners. A colorful new interface accompanies enhancements to functionality such as a text-only, ADA-compliant version; search using Spanish characters; bilingual Help and About pages; print/e-mail utility; separate search results for articles and media; and much more. New Features
New Design and Navigation Enhancement
ADA ComplianceLa Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre is now available in a text-only version designed to bring the database into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Although on the advice of our consultants in this field we have chosen to refer to this version as text-only, it does in fact include almost all the nontextual material in the graphical version but makes it accessible by providing text descriptions. Access is provided to the text-only version via the "Texto sólo" link in the footer of each page. Among the features of the text-only version are keyboard shortcuts (also accessible from the footer via the "Teclas de atajo" link), bypass links, limited use of graphic buttons, and no use at all of pop-ups. All complex tables have been supplied with text summaries (since such tables may be unreadable by special media browsers). AcknowledgementsGrolier Online is the work of over one hundred people who contribute to the creation of content, design, technical development, updates and system management. Development of this version was led by the following:
Copyrights and TrademarksThis software is furnished to you under license agreement and may be used only in accordance with the terms of that agreement. No part of this software may be reused, reproduced, or transmitted in any form, by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written consent of Scholastic Library Publishing, except as noted under the Copying, Printing, and Saving section. Our Partners. The encyclopedic resources within Grolier Online have always been an excellent place to begin doing research, but Grolier Online has recently expanded these resources by partnering with both EBSCO and OCLC, known leaders in the areas of periodical content and bibliographic resources, to offer portions of their databases to Grolier Online readers. Our strategy has been to make pre-selected, subject-specific periodical articles and bibliographical citations directly available to readers via links within encyclopedia entries, speeding research time by eliminating the need to construct additional queries on a topic. Readers of an encyclopedia entry on Mexico, for instance, will find links within the entry to the full text of an array of periodical articles on that country provided by EBSCO as well as citations of further readings on Mexico culled from OCLC's WorldCat®, a database of bibliographic citations from libraries around the world. Links to selected EBSCO periodical content is available from articles in Encyclopedia Americana, The Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, and The New Book of Knowledge. Links to selected OCLC WorldCat® holdings are included only in the Encyclopedia Americana. EBSCO Publishing. EBSCO Publishing is the world's most prolific aggregator of full-text journals, magazines, and other sources. EBSCO includes articles from many of the world's most prestigious academic publishers, and their databases offer a convenient way for users to search the full text of articles from a large collection of publications in one easy process. EBSCO's broad range of full-text and bibliographic databases include popular magazines, education journals, newspapers, newswires, transcripts, pamphlets, reports, primary source documents, biographies, and almanacs, and are designed to meet the reference needs of students, teachers, and researchers of all ages. OCLC. OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) is a nonprofit organization that provides computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, and preservation services to forty-one thousand libraries in eighty-two countries and territories. Founded in 1967 to improve access to the world's information and reduce information costs, OCLC conducts ongoing research to develop technologies to support that mission. Together, libraries and OCLC have built WorldCat®, the world's largest database of bibliographic information. WorldCat® contains the merged catalogs of libraries around the world, making it the world's largest and richest database of bibliographic information. It is the most consulted database in higher education and holds fifty million cataloging records with over 850 million location listings. A typical record in WorldCat® contains a physical description of an item and information about its intellectual content. WorldCat® connects librarians, scholars, students, researchers and patrons to four thousand years of recorded history-from stone tablets to e-books, and from wax recordings to MP3s. Privacy PolicyPersonally Identifiable
Information We at Grolier Online are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our online subscribers. This policy statement provides an overview of the measures we have taken to provide them with a safe and secure online environment. Personally Identifiable InformationGrolier Online is sold by subscription to schools, libraries, colleges, universities, and other institutional customers only and may be licensed for both on-site and remote access. We use a variety of means to authenticate these accounts, most of which require no personally identifiable information about students, library patrons, or other end users. The few instances where personally identifiable information is obtained are identified below. We do not share information about our online customers with any third party, nor do we use this information to market our products to end users. The information we gather in order to authenticate a Grolier Online account is described below: Institutional IP AddressesInternet Protocol (IP) addresses are numbers assigned by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to each computer while it is connected to the Web. Where possible, we store the IP addresses and address ranges of computers belonging to our institutional customers (that is, computers in a school or library) in a database so as to identify valid subscribers to Grolier Online. No personally identifiable information about end users is elicited or stored under this method, and we have no means of identifying individual end users of our service. At the request of the institutional customer, occasionally we do report the aggregate number of visits and/or user sessions from a given IP address or address range. Institutional URLsInstitutions that have a Web page accessible only to authorized patrons may place a link on that page (the "Referring Web Page") to Grolier Online. We store the Universal Resource Locator (URL), or name, of that page in a database and regard all queries to our servers originating from that page as coming from a patron of a subscribing institution. No personally identifiable information about end users is elicited or stored under this method, and we have no means of identifying individual users of our service. At the request of the institutional customer, occasionally we do report the aggregate number of visits and/or user sessions from a given Referring Web Page. CookiesWhere IP or Referring Web Page authentication is not feasible, we may use cookies to authenticate an account. These Cookies are small computer files containing an encrypted user name and password that we download to our institutional subscribers' computers. The user name and password serve no function other than to identify the computer as belonging to a subscribing institution. No personally identifiable information is stored in the cookie, nor does the cookie enable Grolier Online to access information about the computer on which it is installed or its network environment. Cookies are downloaded upon the direct request of the subscribing institution, as indicated by their entering a user name and password given to them for this specific purpose. Individual Remote Access AccountsOccasionally, Grolier also allows remote patrons of subscribing institutions to establish individual remote access accounts. If so, we request the following personally identifiable information at the time the account is established:
Information Practices
We encourage the use of our site by children, especially when this time is shared by their parents or guardians. Grolier recommends that children be closely supervised in their use of the Internet by their parents or guardians. Scholastic Library Publishing reserves the right to make changes and revisions to this policy. By using this site, you agree to this Privacy Policy in addition to all other terms of use. ADA ComplianceGeneral Policy Statement General Policy StatementGrolier Online has been committed to releasing ADA-compliant versions of all of its encyclopedia databases since 2002 when the Encyclopedia Americana was the first database to be upgraded to include an ADA-compliant version. Since then all of Grolier Online's major encyclopedia databases have been upgraded to include ADA-compliant versions: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, The New Book of Knowledge, and Enciclopedia Cumbre en Linea. Additionally The New Book of Popular Science is also offered in ADA-compliant format, and the Grolier Online homepages and environments also adhere to the Section 508 guidelines, though no text-only versions have been created. Given the complex nature of many of the features in our encyclopedias, we have adopted a two-tiered approach for achieving satisfactory levels of compliance. Over the next two years we will be incorporating as many ADA-compliant features as are feasible into the "graphical" (regular) versions of each Grolier Online encyclopedia database; at the same time, to ensure maximum compliance, we have also creating "text-only" versions of each. (See the definition of text-only, below.) ADA Compliance StandardsOnline has chosen to follow the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Checkpoints as its standard. This decision was made because the W3C has played a lead role in defining ADA standards for the Internet and has vigorously advocated a high degree of usability for people with disabilities. More information about the W3C can be obtained from their website at http://www.w3.org/WAI. Currently, the text-only versions of Grolier Online's encyclopedia databases conform to Level AA of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative, which means that they comply with all requirements identified by the W3C as priorities 1 and 2. In doing so, we have also achieved Level AA "Bobby" conformance. This means that the products comply with all of the requirements identified by Bobby WorldWide as key priorities in expanding opportunities for people with disabilities. Bobby WorldWide, created by the nonprofit Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), is a tool for Web page authors that helps them identify those changes necessary to enable users with disabilities to more easily access their Web pages. For example, Bobby identifies instances of missing descriptions or forms that are improperly labeled and that do not indicate the keypress that replaces a mouse click. It also indicates links that use repetitive language on the same page and tagging problems (improper use of heights and width, missing titles, etc.) More information about Bobby WorldWide can be obtained from their website at http://www.watchfire.com/products/desktop/bobby/default.aspx. The Federal Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards, known as Section 508, has also been followed. The relevant Section 508 information is as follows: On August 7, 1998, President Clinton signed the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which includes the Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1998. Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments, as amended by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, requires that when Federal agencies develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic and information technology, they shall ensure that the electronic and information technology allows Federal employees with disabilities to have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to the access to and use of information and data by Federal employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency. Section 508 also requires that individuals with disabilities, who are members of the public seeking information or services from the Federal agency, have access to and use of information and data that is comparable to that provided to the public who are not individuals with disabilities. Text-only Version DefinedAlthough on the advice of our consultants in this field we have chosen to call our ADA-compliant versions text-only, the term is actually a misnomer. Despite the name, these versions contains all the graphic material in the graphical editions--photographs, illustrations, maps, and flags--with the exception of video, animations, and sound files. These have been excluded while we develop ways to comply better with the standards for these assets, including, for instance, providing narrations for all video and animated content. The text of the text-only versions is identical to that of the graphical editions. In fact, the text-only version is simply a different view of the same article files seen by users of the graphical edition, engineered and displayed in such a way as to support assistive technologies and the navigational and display requirements of the standard. The specific compliance strategies we have employed in these versions are discussed below. Specific ADA Compliance Guidelines FollowedSite MapsThe main page of the text-only version is a site map with links to every part of the encyclopedia. Many pages throughout the encyclopedia include toggle links to enable the user to move quickly and easily between the graphic and text-only versions. Keyboard shortcutsKeyboard shortcuts commonly supported by alternative Web browsers, as described in the WAI guidelines, along with others defined specifically for use within the encyclopedias, have been included to provide quick navigation. Bypass LinksInvisible graphic links, with text equivalents, are available on all pages to help the user skip navigation bars or other repeated functions, thereby facilitating direct access to content or other main areas of a page. Limited Use of Graphic ButtonsSince some users have difficulty reading text on graphic images, and since there is very limited provision in Web browsers for enlarging graphics, thereby allowing the text on the graphic to be readable for those with impaired sight, most links for navigating the encyclopedia have been implemented as text links. This enables the user to increase the size of the font, and therefore the text of the link, as needed. Text AlternativesEvery graphic image in the encyclopedia has a text alternative. This is accomplished by providing "alt" information for the graphic. Browsers of Web content support "alt" and will therefore display or read this text information for those unable to display or view the image. Table SummariesAll complex content tables in the encyclopedia have been supplied with text summaries to provide a text equivalent for a table that may be unreadable by some special media browsers. Design ConsiderationsSeveral design factors have been employed to ensure that text-only pages have significant contrast between background and foreground images and text. Style sheetsStyle sheets have been utilized in the ADA-compliant versions, as they allow for a document's structure to play a more significant role in its presentation on the Web, making it easier for assistive applications to render them. Page movementSpecial care has been taken to avoid page movement or flickering to avoid adversely affecting people with photosensitive epilepsy. Pop-upsNo pop-up pages exist in the text-only versions, as recommended in the case of browsers such as Lynx. Instead, full-size pages display selection lists and full-size images. Using Grolier Online with Assistive TechnologiesThe guidelines listed above ensure that our text-only versions can be used by persons with certain disabilities using a standard Web browser. However, some disabilities require that the user adopt an alternative approach to Web use, an approach sometimes quite different from that provided by traditional browsers. A variety of browsers and screen readers specifically designed for persons with disabilities are now available, allowing those with visual impairment or reading difficulties, for instance, to rely on speech output, Braille displays, or screen magnification. Because Grolier Online has strictly adhered to the ADA compliance guidelines specified above, the text-only versions of the encyclopedias should work consistently across all alternative browsers and screen readers. Additionally, Grolier Online has tested its text-only versions with screen readers such as JAWS as well as text-only browsers such as LYNX. Fonts and images were also enlarged and tested within Internet Explorer to ensure that the products worked well in that environment. The following page on the W3C site contains a good listing of assistive technology readers/browsers: http://www.w3.org/WAI/References/Browsing#2. Accessing the Text-only VersionsThe text-only versions of our encyclopedias can be accessed in three ways:
Grolier Online has long been committed to providing easy access, powerful functionality, and a wealth of content for its users, and this commitment has now been expanded to include ADA compliance. Our ongoing commitment is not only to include ADA-compliant versions of all content but also to monitor the standard as it changes and grows and to incorporate new and improved functionality as it becomes available. Access and Authentication PoliciesWe use several methods to connect subscribers to Grolier Online. Which method we use depends on how you are connected to the Internet and how you wish to control access to our service for your students and library patrons. This section briefly explains each of these methods and what is necessary to get you connected. On-Site Access
The one-time password method sets a cookie on your workstations identifying them as belonging to a subscribing institution. Retrieving the cookie is simple. We provide you with a user name and password unique to your account, after which a library staff member or library patrons themselves (the password is not secret) point their browser at go.grolier.com and type the user name and password. Our servers validate the user name and password and your browser retrieves a cookie from our servers and maintains it in the appropriate folder at that workstation. Thereafter, the cookie allows access to Grolier Online without the need to type the user name and password again (hence the term one-time). Should the cookie file be deleted, it can be reinstalled using the same user name and password. Please note that the one-time password is valid only when used on a workstation the IP address or address range of which is known to us; it cannot be used to download a cookie from a patron's home. For further information, see the One-time Password Instruction Sheet. Remote AccessIf your subscription includes remote access, we can provide it in one of two ways. Both require that your institution has a Web site.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)What
is the purpose of the frame at the top of each page? What is the purpose of the frame at the top of each page?The frame (we call it the "GO frame") at the top of each Grolier
Online page is part of an upgrade to our technical infrastructure that gives
users the ability to search all licensed databases simultaneously from any
point in Grolier Online. This functionality, known as "Global Search," is
available from the search dialog box on the right-hand side of the frame.
The GO frame also gives us a place to provide access to features common to
two or more of our encyclopedia databases, such as the Grolier Online Atlas
or our family of American Heritage How do I bookmark Grolier Online?The only reliable way to bookmark Grolier Online is to point your browser at the Grolier Online home page (the page that lists the various encyclopedias you have licensed) at go.grolier.com. From that page, use the menu commands on your browser ("Bookmarks," "Favorites," etc.) to add a bookmark to that page. If you bookmark any other page in Grolier Online, results will be unpredictable. For instance, if you have inadvertently bookmarked the GO frame itself, you will see a Grolier Online page with a frame at the top and a frame at the bottom (!). In such cases, we recommend that you erase that bookmark and use the method described above. How can I create a desktop shortcut to Grolier Online?The easiest way to create a shortcut to Grolier Online is to point your browser at our home page and then drag the icon on the location bar to the desktop. Alternatively, you can download a Grolier Online icon to your desktop. Click here for instructions on how to do this. Which browsers do you support?Grolier Online will run on Netscape Navigator 7.x and higher and Internet Explorer 5.x and higher. We do not recommend running Grolier Online on any Netscape 6.x browser. Are there specific browser settings required for Grolier Online?Your browser must have JavaScript enabled and be set to accept all cookies. If either of these settings is not active, you will be unable to access our service. Are plug-ins required to view Grolier Online?Grolier Online has been designed to run without the need for plug-ins. However, some Grolier Online articles contain two versions of their graphical content. The "multimedia-rich" version features multimedia elements that require audio or video software available only on higher versions of your browser or that require you to download this software as a plug-in. Any features requiring a plugin are not included in the standard version. The choice of "multimedia rich" or "standard" is made at the time of subscription (that is, by the librarian acquiring the license); it is not selectable by the library patron or end user. Currently, the only video player required or supported by Grolier Online is QuickTime. If you are running browsers with QuickTime already installed, or are willing to accept a QuickTime plug-in, please be sure to indicate your preference for the "multimedia rich" version on your license agreement. What are the recommended system requirements for Grolier Online?For PC: We recommend Pentium II processor with 128 MB of RAM with Windows 2000 or Windows XP operating system. We recommend using the following browsers; IE 6.0 and higher, Netscape 7.0 and higher, and Firefox 1.0 and higher. We also recommend using 15–inch monitor with the resolution set at 1024 x 768 for best viewing (will operate fine at 800 x 600) with high 16-bit colors, or higher selected. For Mac: We recommend running under system 9.x or better on a PowerMac or higher. Best displayed on a monitor of 15–inch with resolution set at 1024 x 768 for best viewing (will operate fine at 800 x 600) with "thousands of colors" selected. We recommend using the following browsers; Safari 1.0 and higher, Netscape 7.0 and higher, and Firefox 1.0 and higher. These are recommendations, not the minimum requirements. Anything lower would provide a poor user experience using Grolier Online features. Will Grolier Online run over a modem connection to the Internet?Although Grolier Online will run on a modem connection (56K strongly preferred), longer articles, graphics, and video files will be slow to load. We recommend a high-speed connection for best results. Do you support remote access?Yes, we support a variety of remote access methods for our customers and encourage them to take advantage of the convenience remote access offers. To learn more about how to establish remote access privileges for your library patrons, please call our customer service staff at 1-888-326-6546. Can articles be printed, or emailed?Yes, all Grolier Online articles can either be printed or emailed. The best way to do this is through our Print/Email feature located on all encyclopedia database articles toward the upper right-hand side of the page. Can I set either Grolier Online Kids or Grolier Online Passport as my default homepage?Yes, there are a variety of ways in which you can customize Grolier Online, including your default homepage. Click here here for additional information about how to do this. Is Grolier Online's statistical reporting Counter Compliant?Grolier Online's statistical reporting does comply in part. Page views and sessions, are broken down by product and month, but Microsoft's Excel format is not yet available. TroubleshootingI can't
access any of the databases I have licensed. Occasionally users report difficulty accessing Grolier Online, most frequently when first establishing an account or when adding a new database to the subscription. Several of the more common problems reported are discussed below. I can't access any of the databases I have licensed.Any number of factors may temporarily affect your ability to access Grolier Online or interfere with the authentication of your account. If you are experiencing such difficulties, we recommend that you consult the technical staff at your library first, to see if any of the factors listed below applies, then call (or have your technical supervisor call) our customer service line at 1-888-326-6546. We have specific solutions for each of these issues:
I can access some, but not all, of the databases I have licensed.
If this fails to resolve the problem, please call our customer service line at 1-888-326-6546. I recently added a database to my service but do not have access to it.
If this fails to resolve the problem, please call our customer service line at 1-888-326-6546. I get access to databases I have not licensed.We probably have incorrect information about your account in our database. Please call our customer service line at 1-888-326-6546 to report the issue. The passwords I was given don't work.Check your records carefully to ensure that you are entering the correct user name and password and that you are typing them using all lower case letters. If the problem is not resolved, please call our customer service line at 1-888-326-6546. The new GO pages load very slowly.Many factors contribute to slowness on the Internet, most of them beyond our control. These include the system setup and network configuration at your site, your Internet Service Provider's own connection to the Internet, and congestion along any point between your site and ours. Before reporting slowness to our customer service staff, please note whether the problem is specific to Grolier Online or common to all pages you attempt to download. Is the slowness more common at certain times of day? Do you notice the problem for all Grolier Online pages or only certain ones? Answers to these questions will help us identify problems on our end. The new GO frame takes up too much space on my screen.If you are using a 15-inch (or larger) monitor, the problem can usually be resolved by resizing the browser window to the full screen and/or setting the monitor's resolution to 800 x 600 or better. If you are using a monitor smaller than 15 inches, a frameless version of Grolier Online may be for you. Please call our customer service line at 1-888-326-6546 to learn how to access the frameless version. Caution: Neither Global Search nor the Grolier Online Atlas are available in the frameless version. Likewise, session statistics cannot be generated from any browser running the frameless version. |
dictionaries.