Wow! I never realised how many people would respond. Thank you all!
Sorry I can't respond personally to you all, but you'll understand why
when you scroll down. And down.
Hope this helps others with their decisions, I'm now wondering where I
can carve something out of my budget.
Dominique Collins
Head of LRC
Hurstpierpoint College
College Lane
Hassocks
West Sussex
BN6 9JS
Tel: +44 (0)1273 833636 (switch)
Fax: +44 (0)1273835257
http://www.hppc.co.uk
it is fabulous, we use it all the time.
*****************************
I just updated my copy of World Book in print because so many of my
teachers wanted it. We also have access to it online (we don't pay for
it). There are many students that do better with print - especially
starting out new in research skills.
*****************************
We have WBO throughout the District, so it is available not only here in
the library, but in any classroom and at home as well. I have the print
edition available here, too. Neither the print nor the online is used as
much as Google.
*****************************
We have WBO. We stopped buying the print version because students can
access this 24/7, and they don't have to wait if somebody else has the
"letter" they need.
*****************************
Our district pays for the subscription and I suggest it often. I know
it is widely used in our large district, but not used much at my school
overall. However, our print encyclopedias don't seem to be used all
that much either. I mean we have research projects within each grade
level (about 3-4 per year that would be once a quarter) so that makes
about 12-15 times per year we need print encyclopedias. You know now
that I'm writing this out I think hey we have spent so much money on
something very little used. Wow, that is interesting.
*****************************
We have print and online and use both. We are an elementary school.
*****************************
We have world book online, I use it mostly in my computer lab. We enjoy
it as our students can also use it at home. We have a rep coming on
Wednesday to give our teachers some training. If you have it available
school wide you might ask for a rep to come in and show it to your
teachers. The presentation is free and part of the package you buy. We
have both print and on line.
*****************************
We use the online version,which can be accessed at school and at home,
all the time for reports. The print volumes are used only occasionally
in school as a quick ready reference to answer a question (How old would
Martin Luther King, Jr. be if he was alive today?). I update my print
volumes only once every five years, but the online version is always
up-to-date.
*****************************
My school does have World Book Online. I keep a print version around,
too, though. I try to purchase a new set of print encyclopedias every
five years (or less, if there's money) and usually keep the two newest
sets on hand. I have to admit, our online version does not get a ton of
use, but I really like having it for more timely topics (it is updated
much more frequently than the print version) and for those times when an
entire class needs to look stuff up at once (this prevents people from
arguing over the one volume everyone seems to need). Plus, as far as
online resources go, it's not too terribly expensive. However, if we
ever stop subscribing for some reason, we would be completely without
all that information. So in short, I believe it is important to keep
both versions around.
*****************************
We had WB online for a couple of years. Some students used it
frequently--others never used it. The tech guys decided not to purchase
it for this year. We do have a print set that is about 3 years old.
*****************************
My school district has a subscription to worldbookonline. I have quit
buying the print version as that takes a chunk of my budget that I'd
prefer to spend on books for children to read. I'm in a K-5 school. I
love the addition of the Kids version to the subscription...it is a
great asset for elementary.
I wonder how much it gets used. I promote it all the time but I don't
know if teachers follow through. Since I'm in two schools now, my
program has been all but destroyed. Teachers don't want to tap in
because I'm not there every day for the support. The print version is
rarely touched; it is from 2000. Unless I hear about some need for it, I
won't spend the money on another print version until then.
My guess is the upper grades in middle school and high school might use
wbonline more.
I have a link to it on my media page to make access easy.
*****************************
We have it in our district and I use it quite a bit with our students. I
have not updated our print sets since 2000 and we use the online version
most of the time. I'm not even teaching much of the print version
anymore as the online is available to all of our students who have
Internet service and we print the articles out for students who don't
have Internet at home.
I recommend it to you.
*****************************
I personally like both. However, my students while they may need to use
the encyclopedia initially seem to think that google is the end all. So
there is not much use of either print or nonprint.
*****************************
I have both and they are used quite a bit. I like having both because
they each have advantages.
*****************************
All 26 of our school receive WorldBook Online. They also have print
copy.
Advantage to online version. We pay an additional 10 cents per student
for them to have home access. Gives students and staff access to the
information outside the school day. The statistical feature of the
online version is good. Provides us with information on how many
searches done from the school computers, how many from home. Also how
many used the Kids interface rather than the general children to adult
one. In addition it has a Spansih component. We have a few
International students with Spanish language background, so this is used
but not a great deal. Being Canadian, we are looking forward to the
soon to be released French component.
No fights over one volume. As many computers as you have = number of
students that can easily research their topic at the same time.
*****************************
I love Worldbookline -- we just upgraded to the Advanced (Platinum?)
version and it's terrific! My district pays for a whole district site
license so kids are given the username and password to access from home
(as are all employees, their families and the kids' families). My
Spanish speakers also appreciate the Spanish language version and the
advanced Spanish clsses have also used this feature. I can't live
without it since I can only replace a print set about every 5 years!
*****************************
Hi! We have both, and I am more inclined to keep the online over
keeping the print current. The basic reason is that our students can
use the online at home or at the public library (or anyplace they have a
computer with Internet access) while the print is limited to just here
at school.
Also, we get our online subscription to WB Online through an area
consortium, and our cost is about a quarter of the print cost for a
current set.
*****************************
My school uses World Book Online, and we do have the hard copy also. We
do use it, especially during science fair time and they are beginning
their research for their topic. There are other times that they also
use it. They may access it at home also. Plus the online is updated,
is it not? For us it is cheaper to get the online version as opposed to
the print version.
*****************************
I have World Book Online. When I started as librarian several years ago
Nebraska required two encyclopedia newer than five years in each
library. I am in a K-12 school with two libraries, thus requiring an
encyclopedia purchase four years out of five. The online seemed to be
more economical and we also selected the option for students to use the
encyclopedia at home. Since then the state changed to require only one
and the online fulfills the need for both libraries.
Useage? I am not sure. The middle school use it for a source when they
do a series of activities on the encyclopedia. They used need several
sets of print encyclopedia. Using the online allows all the students to
be on the same worksheet (there is one for each letter) instead of
everyone on a different letter. For quick reference the print are handy
because they can be taken to the classroom. Each year I condemplate
where I should also have an up to date print encyclopedia in each
library as well. I will consider it again this spring.
*****************************
We do have World Book Online. It gets used intermittently. We get more
use of Britannica Online which we also subscribe to. I have both World
Book (2005) and Britannica (2005) in print and get new editions about
every five years. I believe it's important to have both formats
available if you can afford them.
*****************************
I have both. The students prefer online but I don't have enough
computers for an entire class so some have to use the books.
*****************************
We have the online version and our most recent print version is 2001.
The online does get used if I'm directing the research. To be honest I
don't think anyone else uses it in the building. The print has not been
used at all, except again by me for quick reference. There are other
buildings in the district who do use it more. I think it tends to
depend on the building, the clientel and the facilitator. I am working
at trying to get more of our online resources used more frequently. I
think the online is handy and a good way to introduce navigating
websites/databases.
*****************************
We have both print and online and both are used. I think it is worth the
money to have the online since students may access it from home. Of
course print is always good to have -- computers sometimes are not
entirely reliable.
*****************************
We have had WBOL for about 4 years - love it and it gets used a lot. We
also purchase the print editions, but only once every 5 years or so.
*****************************
I subscribed last year but didn't renew. Although I liked it - we don't
allow the students to use encyclopedias for any research so it was never
used.
*****************************
I have print only in my library, but my WB rep has been encouraging me
to subscribe to the online version.
*****************************
I have both. My print versions are somewhat out-of-date. I direct
children to the online version...which they can access at home, as well.
To me, the online version is the way to go. It's much more current than
even the print versions.
*****************************
The district pays for the World Book Online subscription for all schools
here. It is definitely used, and students can access it from home. I
haven't purchased a print encyclopedia in my four years in the district
because of the online subscription. A majority of our students have
public library cards; our local system is one of the largest in the US
and has many databases available, including online encyclopedias.
*****************************
We have both World Book online and in print. We use both.
Sometimes the students need to understand the background of something,
and reading in the one volume works best.
When a whole class is scheduled to come to the library to work on
research on the American Revolutionary War (or, the American War of
Rebellion as I think it's called in your part of the world), it makes
much better sense to have the encyclopedia available to them online...
as many students would want to use the same volumes.
Another perk: because we have the online version we pay less for the
print version.
*****************************
I do have both. I'm not sure how much it gets used, but I do promote it
quite a bit. I have sent home the log in information to parents, trained
teachers and always give it as an alternative to google. I think I can
actually contact them and find out how many times it does get used. I
like having something to suggest in order to deter students from using
google, especially in the lower grades. I also cover 10 buildings and
they don't all have libraries, so for some it's the only access to a
current World Book.
*****************************
I have both, but my print version is getting old and I'm unsure about
getting a new one. I have noticed over the last 5 years a change in how
students wish to access the encyclopedia -- hardly anyone goes for the
book anymore.
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