Customer Reviews

Encyclopedia Britannica 2009 Student & Home Edition [Old Version]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The Encyclopedia Britannica 2009 (established in 1768), both in its Ultimate (now also called "Student and Home") and Deluxe versions, builds on the success of its completely revamped previous editions in 2006-8. The rate of innovation in the last three versions was impressive and welcome. It continues apace in this rendition with Britannica Biographies (Great Minds and Leaders), Classical Music (500 audio files arranged by composer), and a great Workspace for Project Management (a kind of friendly digital den). Generous 6-12 months of free access to the myriad riches of the Britannica Online complete the package.

The Britannica comes bundled with an atlas (close to 1800 maps linked to articles and 287 World Data Profiles of individual countries and territories); the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus, augmented by a Spanish-English translation dictionary; classic articles from previous editions; eleven yearbooks; an Interactive Timeline with 4000+ indexed timeline entries; a Research Organizer; and a Knowledge Navigator (called The Brain or BrainStormer). All told, it offers a directory of more than 166,000 reviewed and vetted links to online content.

In its new form, the Britannica is as user-friendly as the Encarta. With a new A to Z Quick Search feature, monthly updates and the aforementioned 6-12 months of free access to its impressive powerhouse online Web site, it is bound to give the former tough competition.

The Britannica's newest interface is even more intuitive and uncluttered than previously and is great fun to use. It offers morsels of knowledge, some of it date-specific, appetizingly presented through a ticker tape of visuals that leisurely scrolls across the bottom of the screen plus highly edifying interactive tours of articles and attendant media.

When you enter even the first few letters of a term in the search box, it offers various options and is persistent: no need to click on the toolbar's "search" button every time you want to find something in this vast storehouse of knowledge. Moreover, the user can save search results onto handy "Virtual Notecards". Whole articles can be copied onto the seemingly inexhaustible Workspace.

The new Britannica's display is tab-based, avoiding the erstwhile confusing proliferation of windows with every move. Most importantly, articles appear in full, not in sections. This major improvement facilitates the finding of relevant keywords in and the printing of entire texts. These are only a few of the numerous alterations and enhancements.

Perhaps the most refreshing change is the Britannica's Update Center. Dozens of monthly updates and new, timely articles are made available online (subject to free registration). A special button alerts the user when an entry in the base product has been updated.

Regrettably, unlike in the Encarta, the updates cannot be downloaded to the user's computer or otherwise incorporated into the vast encyclopedia. Moreover, the product does not alert its user to the existence of completely new articles, only to updated ones. It takes a manual scan of the monthly lists to reveal newly added content.

Speaking of updates, one must not forget to dwell on the Britannica's unequalled yearbooks. Each annual volume contains the year in events, scientific developments, and everything you wanted to know about the latest in any and every conceivable field of human endeavor or nature. About 10,500 articles culled from the last 11 editions buttress and update the Encyclopedia's anyhow impressive offerings.

The Britannica provides considerably more text than any other extant encyclopedia, print or digital. But it has noticeably enhanced its non-textual content over the years (the 1994-7 editions had nothing or very little but words, words, and more words): it now boasts in excess of 22-30,000 images and illustrations (depending on the version) and 900 video and audio clips. This is not to mention the Britannica Classics: articles from Britannica's most famous contributors-from Sigmund Freud to Harry Houdini, Marie Curie to Orville Wright.

The Britannica fully supports serious research. It is a sober assemblage of first-rate essays, up to date bibliographies, and relevant multimedia. It is a desktop university library: thorough, well-researched, comprehensive, trustworthy.

The Britannica's 84-103,000 articles (depending on the version) are long and thorough, supported by impressive bibliographies, and written by the best scholars in their respective fields. The company's Editorial Board of Advisors reads like the who's who of the global intellectual and scientific community.

The Britannica is an embarrassment of riches. Users often find the wealth and breadth of information daunting and data mining is fast becoming an art form. This is why the Britannica incorporated the BrainStormer to cope with this predicament. But an informal poll I conducted online shows that few know how to deploy it effectively.

The Britannica also sports Student and Elementary versions of its venerable flagship product, replete with a Homework Helpdesk and interactive tutorials, but it is far better geared to tackle the information needs of adults and, even more so, professionals. It provides unequalled coverage of its topics. Ironically, this is precisely why the market positioning of the Britannica's Elementary and Student Encyclopedias is problematic: with Wikipedia and even the Encarta around, the Britannica's brand is distinctly adult and scholarly.

Still, the 2009 editions of both the Student and Elementary encyclopedias improve on the past in terms of both coverage and facilities: the Homework Helpdesk is a collection of useful homework resources including a video subject browse, online learning games and activities, online subject spotlights, and how-to documents on topics such as writing a book review. There are also Learning Games and Activities: hundreds of fun and interactive games and activities to help students with subjects like Math, Science, and Social Studies.

The current edition is fully integrated with the Internet. Apart from the updates, it offers additional and timely content and revisions on a dedicated Web site. The digital product includes a staggering number of links (165,808!) to third party content and articles on the Web. The GeoAnalyzer, which compares national statistical data and generates charts and graphs, is now Web-based and greatly enhanced.

The Britannica would do well to offer a browser add-on search bar and to integrate with desktop search tools from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and others. Currently it offers search results through Google but this requires the user to install add-ons or plug-ins and to go through a convoluted rite of passage. A seamless experience is in the cards. Users must and will be able to ferret content from all over - their desktop, their encyclopedias, and the Web - using a single, intuitive interface.

Some minor gripes:

The atlas, dictionary, and thesaurus incorporated in the Britannica are still surprisingly outdated. Why not use a more current - and dynamically updated - offering? What about dictionaries for specialty terms (medical or computer glossaries, for instance)?

Despite considerable improvement over the previous edition, the Britannica still consumes (not to say hogs) computer resource far in excess of the official specifications. This makes it less suitable for installation on older PCs and on many laptops. If you own a machine with anything earlier than Pentium 3 and less than 4 Gb of really free space - forget it!

The Britannica uses a new graphic and text renderer. On some systems, the user needs to modify his or her desktop settings to get rid of jagged fonts and blurry photos. The software also seriously conflicts with security applications (especially anti-virus and firewall products). This edition, though, is finally compatible with the latest QuickTime.

But that's it. Don't think twice. Run to the closest retail outlet (or surf to the Britannica's Web site) and purchase the 2009 edition now. It offers excellent value for money (less than $40, with a rebate) and significantly enhances you access to knowledge and wisdom accumulated over centuries all over the world. Sam Vaknin, author of "Malignant Self-love: Narcissism Revisited"

At some point, after using this product for a while, I will revise this review. Meanwhile, I hope the one star rating will draw attention before folks commit to buying the Encyclopedia Britannica 2009 Student and Home Edition Ultimate Reference Suite.
This issue may not be important to you. But it will be to some, and I want to provide a heads-up.
I just purchased this and have installed it in my Mac, and as far as I can tell the installation went well. Next, I went online to register and sign up for the free one year access to Britannica Online. Britannica Online is a significant benefit of the purchase; it provides access to the full 32 volume Britannica and, I believe, articles from current periodicals, and more. This free subscription is mentioned twice here in the Amazon description, and it is visible on the larger image of the box. When you receive the software, you find this free benefit touted three times on the outside of the box. (On the box there is a tiny cross about the size of the dot over an "i", after the words announcing this free benefit, to indicate there is more information somewhere.) It is not until you've found your magnifying glass and read the two point type (really!) on the bottom of the box, or unsealed the box and read something inside, or attempted to register online, that you learn you must supply Britannica with your credit card number in order to receive this "free" subscription. Also, you will be automatically billed for another year at the end of the subscription unless you remember to cancel. Additionally, according to the FAQs on their subscriber services page, they will not notify you if the renewal price goes up before they bill your card. You are expected to look online somewhere where subscription rates are posted.
I guess I could have summed up my comment in a few sentences, but I'm annoyed. I don't want to give them my credit card number - I'm not buying anything from them. Did the publisher choose to keep an important piece of information obscure, information which could affect a consumer's decision to purchase? Well, I know this: I've lost some respect for the Encyclopedia Britannica. I don't like their business practices. We'll see about the software.

Good product. Works very well on Vista. Articles are excellent. Brainstormer feature is outstanding. Atlas not as good as Encarta. It does not have as much functionality. Articles are much better than Encarta. Glad I purchased.

I have used previous versions and been pleased with them. But this 2009 edition installation has stopped twice on "installing... busansbo.ttf" and refused to continue. I can't find any "service" or "tech support" site. I suggest you continue using your previous year's version -- this one isn't ready for prime time yet.

I sent in the rebate with all requested paperwork and original copies within a few days of receiving the DVD at the end of December. Avanquest did not process it until March 11, and refused it -- "Your rebate cannot be paid because your submission was incomplete and missing one or more requirements." Because I know all of the requested paperwork was there, my guess is that it was refused because it was after the 30 days -- even though they are the ones who sat on it until it has passed the time limit. No response from them when I tried to contact them.

So don't assume that the rebate will materialize. Buy based on the purchase price and let the rebate be a nice surprise if it is actually approved and sent.

I purchased the Student & Home Edition even though we had no need for the elementary through high school material even though this version was substantially more expensive. Why? Because with this version, the description of the features indicated that the purchase would include a year's free subscription to the online content whereas the deluxe version included only a six months' free subscription. Given that the annual fee for the online content was reported to be $70, I was willing to paying an additional $14 for content worth $35, e.g. an extra six months' access. So I was dismayed when, after the DVD arrived (the box in perfect condition, I might add), I immediately registered the product and proceeded to provide my contact information as part of the sign-up process for the online content. But, after providing my e-mail address, physical address, etc., on the final page, they requested a credit card number. To paraphrase, they stated, "Don't worry, we'll take really good care of your credit card number. You can cancel at any time, but if you forget, we got your number." They had a special button that displayed, "No, Thanks." You bet, no thanks. I can take better care of my credit card number, thank you. But they have my contact information as a bonus prize. So, if you feel as I do, and don't care to pass out your social security numbers, bank account numbers, etc. to be used as ransom against you, save your money, just buy what you need, and know that what you are purchasing is real with no strings attached. Had they not pulled this trick, I would have very likely renewed the subscription for the duration of my son's university stay. I was truly disappointed that a name as revered as Britannica would have stooped to such a level.

I bought this product for my son for Christmas because I thought it would help him with his schoolwork. And maybe it will... This is not strictly a review of the quality of the product--in this case, a software program--because there are two things that make this product much less than what I was promised when I bought it.

First, I bought this product because it had an online rebate; I don't do paper rebates because the submitted rebate is often rejected because of "missing" items, even when they aren't missing. Unfortunately, this "online" rebate proved to be merely an online notice from me to them that I would be paper-mailing a rebate form to them in the future. In this case, the rebate required several items from the product packaging. With my electronic purchase from Amazon, the promised online rebate should not have required submission of any paperwork. Instead, it was a ploy to get me to buy their product while they get out of paying the rebate. I have submitted online rebates at Amazon that were fast, easy, and truly electronic; this wasn't one of them.

Secondly, when I went to sign up for the promised free year of Britannica Encyclopedia Online, I discovered that a credit card is required to get my "free" year. If I have to give a credit card number, then it isn't free--period. Of course they are hoping I'll forget to cancel during the year so that they can charge me $50 for the next year. Do they have so little confidence in their product that they believe no one will renew unless they coerce credit card numbers up front?

I can usually rely on up-front deals when I buy from Amazon. For example, when Amazon promises a free magazine with a product, my credit card number is not given to the magazine. My subscription isn't renewed at the end of my free year unless I take action to renew it--and I often do renew if I like the magazine. I really like knowing that Amazon won't be playing games with me.

With the reputation of Encyclopedia Britannica, I thought I was buying from a reputable company that didn't play these games. If I had it do over, I would not buy this product because, given my two complaints above, it wasn't the "good deal" I thought it was.

I followed their rebate instructions to the letter. I even made copies, but they would not honor it. They are just another company that doesn't care about their customers.

After freezing in the middle of the first installation, we returned it only to have the same problem again, and it took over two hours to finally get it up and running. Sadly, couldn't even find the function of some basic things, like a timeline of presidents?REALLY?? We even tried to find some information on a praying mantis, and the only results we got were for a mantis shrimp! This reallly was horrible. I shouldn't have to switch between different types of Encyclopedias to find information. It freezes constantly and is extremely frustrating. Save your money- teach your child how to Google!!!

I rate this product 3 stars because of following factors. First of all, the encyclopedia runs really slowly, especially searching a keyword.[...]

Anyway, 3 star (Good) is for this product!