Databases from other companies are not as strong in some of these areas. Britannica Online is publicized in educational journals and pushed by sales reps for its prominence in the world and high quality academic content. Yet Grolier Online contains just as many facts, written in a more concise style of sentence that today’s students can quickly read and comprehend. Students need to read, comprehend, and then collect information and cite their sources prior to synthesizing the facts into an assigned product. Compared to other choices, students return to Grolier more often because, “I can get all the information I need quickly and I understand what I am reading!” With GoTube, world newspapers for current events, and debate topics on timely issues – all available through the home page – Grolier Online is better than World Book or Britannica. World Book’s home page is cluttered with too many features, and the search bar is not prominent like it is on Grolier Online.
In many ways, the World Book databases are comparable to Grolier Online, however, Grolier is more appealing to students because they start by searching, not by browsing. No one can miss noticing the search bar on Grolier Online! This might be the very best feature! Britannica’s search bar is buried at the bottom of the home page, with the option to click to a certain level where the search bar is still small and down the page. Additionally, students get easily and quickly frustrated with Britannica’s search features – a two or three word phrase often yields “No Results.” Grolier Online is set up more like a familiar search engine where a student can enter a word, a topic, or a phrase and still receive multiple results from the search. Grolier Online is an excellent product with choices to fit various age levels as well as various curricular areas. Once students have been introduced to the myriad of features offered by Grolier Online, they can intuitively search for and find the exact content that they need to gather and synthesize information to meet their academic needs.

GROLIER GETS A REVISE
A close look at reference mainstay Grolier Online, newly updated
Ladies and gentlemen, encyclopedias have left the building. Slowly but surely, these print standbys are disappearing from shelves. And yet, they’re now more vital than ever. In a world of information overload, schools need a beacon of trustworthy knowledge.
Which brings us to Grolier. This tried-and-true stalwart of the student research game has gone through its share of makeovers—remember CD-ROMS? Now under the banner of Scholastic, Grolier has been recently updated. The look is fresh, but in a crowded e-encyclopedia field, how does it stack up.
To read the full review click here