HIT: Online and Print Encyclopedias

[Maryalice Anderson <maryalic@WMS.LUMINET.NET>]

        Earlier I asked for input about online and print encyclopdias. Are
you still buying both, what do you see happening.   Here are the responses:
Mary Alice Andeson

______________________________

We continue to buy print encyclopedias
for asuburban public high school--
but they're not available in
all the title we had previously.
Online and disk ones are wonderful,
but students want to print too much.

Home use will probably move toward online/disk,
______________________________

Who has the crystal ball? I have a few sites where the online encyclopedia
is being used a lot. I really wish that the provider gave us use stats.
Guess we need to become a squeaky wheel.

For the near future I see continuing the print products. Perhaps for the
long future. We are finding we really need the basic, lower reading ability
encyclopedias.  Hopefully that is just an indication of our changed student
population rather than a reading ability trend.

I am thinking right now that it is like the previous "innovations". We still
have books - and e-books, we still have print newspapers/magazines - and
electronic ones, we still have print encyclopedias.

My guess is that we will purchase fewer and will begin looking for deals
like with the CD ROMs.  If you subscribe to an online encyclopedia you get a
cut in price for the print vols.

I haven't seen any interest in the online at home - but then I am not in a
building.
__________________________

I believe there will be a need for both print and online encyclpedias.
Online enecylopedias last one year and your subscription has to be
renewed.  Print encyclopedias last much longer and are always available
for students to use in the library and teachers want print versions in
their classrooms.  Many of the online encyclopedias aren't very good.
__________________________

As to encyclopedias:
   In the upper elementary grades and middle schools, students are thrilled
at the idea of using the on-line, server based or CD dependent
encyclopedias, that is until they actually have to figure out what to type
where and how to get the pages they want.  I also had to be very careful
about allowing any type of printing of the pages.  Some students actually
tried to turn them in!!!!!!! and even tried to old trick of rewriting the
words in their report thinking that the teacher wouldn't recognize the words
if they weren't from the book int he library.
_________________________
We have a site license for World Book online and a print set in each "house."
Students and teachers use both for a variety of reasons. I have both
available in
the media center. If all 16 of my computers are in use, then students will
use the
print version. Sometimes the students, and myself, use the print version
because
it's quicker. I also have print versions of New Book of Knowledge and
Americana.
Special Education teachers really like using the printed New Book of Knowledge
with their students. We use Americana as a back-up to our reference collection.

We may look at this differently 5 and 10 years from now, but right now having
students work with both print and electronic is useful for them to learn
how each
has it's advantages and disadvantages.
__________________________

Maryalice, in our school, both the elementary and hs students use the print
version more often than the electronic version. They seem to like the print
World
Book the most. We have subscribed to Grolier Online. It might be different
if we
subscribed to World Book online.

I think it is possibly due to the fact that they are unaware of the online
version. I put up posters and tell as many students as I can, however, it
is hard
to get the message across about online encyclopedias and periodical databases.
They prefer using Internet over print resources, however, their knowledge about
which sources are best is limited.

They like using Electric Library because there is an icon for it on the
launcher.
The statewide database is used less often, because they have to type in the
address for it.

All-in-all, I think the print versions will not be replaced in the near future.
__________________________

I'm at a HS.  Students prefer the online version of World Book, but they still
use the print version also.  Other encyclpedias both print and electronic don't
get used as often.

__________________________

Last year I got a quote on a print copy of World Book.  It would have cost
over 10 percent of my budget for the entire year. This is to rich for our
school.
__________________________

Mary Alice Anderson, Media Specialist
& Editorial Consultant, Linworth Publishing,  columnist,  _Multimedia Schools_
Winona Middle School        166 West Broadway
Winona MN 55987               Ph: 507-454-9439
Personal home page: http://wms.luminet.net/teachers/manderso.html
Media tech page:  http://wms.luminet.net/wmstechnology/index.html


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