Table of Contents
Access and Authentication Policies
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Welcome to Grolier Online. Grolier Online is published by Scholastic Library Publishing, a division of Scholastic Inc. It includes eight encyclopedia databases: Encyclopedia Americana, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, The New Book of Knowledge, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, America the Beautiful, Lands and Peoples, Amazing Animals of the World, and The New Book of Popular Science. Click here for comprehensive information on the many features available within each of these encyclopedia databases.
This document is designed to provide you with general information about the Grolier Online Web 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 Grolier Online, 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 e-mail us at <scholasticcustomersupport@scholastic.com>.
Released in April 2011, the new, more powerful Grolier Online Version 3.0 is engineered to meet the needs of 21st Century learners. It offers the most comprehensive source of nonfiction content targeted for grades 3 and up, including:
Because the research requirements of younger students differ dramatically from those of older, more sophisticated students and adults, Grolier Online (V 3.0) provides separate interfaces, or tabs, for Elementary School, Middle School, High School, and Adult Patrons. A distinct interface caters to the unique needs of Librarians and Educators. These customized interfaces meet the specialized needs and reading and interest levels of the user.
From the customized interfaces, access to all licensed databases is just one click away. The award-winning curriculum-aligned databases in Grolier Online include three general reference databases:
There are also two science-intensive databases:
And, there are two social studies-intensive databases:
Grolier Online also has La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, a comprehensive encyclopedia for middle-school and high-school students who are Spanish speakers or Spanish-language students.
The backbone of Grolier Online (V 3.0) is a new and powerful search engine that makes finding information fast and simple. A large "Find It Fast" search box sits at the top center of each page. Simply type a word, keyword, or phrase in the box and click.
A new design enables the search results to appear with easy-to-identify, color-coded numbers, ranging from 1, the easiest or lowest Lexile reading range, to 4, which is the hardest or highest. The Lexile Framework® for Reading, developed by MetaMetrics, Inc., provides a common scale for matching reader ability and text difficulty, allowing easy monitoring of student progress. All English-language articles in Grolier Online are assigned a Lexile level based on vocabulary and sentence length and structure.
The Grolier Online search also yields related material, including News Stories, Fast Facts, Magazines, Web sites, Media, and Spanish-language material, making searching simple yet comprehensive. The "Advanced Search" feature gives users the ability to clarify, organize, or further constrain a search. By choosing the "Advanced Search," users can also locate articles by Lexile reading level.
Another new feature on Grolier Online (V 3.0) is "GO Tube". "GO Tube" videos engage users while providing key learning moments. They are accessible from any interface.
Grolier Online is the work of over 100 people who contribute to the creation of content, design, technical development, updates, and system management. Development of this version was led by the following:
Hugh Roome, President, Scholastic Library Publishing
Allison Henderson, Vice President & General Manager, Scholastic Library Publishing
Trudy Tuffy, Senior Director, Internet Products
Eileen Secchi, Director, Quality Assurance
Juliette Bradley, Director, Internet Product Development
Cyndie Cooper, Senior Director, Publishing Technologies
Todd Reisel, Manager, Software Engineering
Virginia Quinn McCarthy, Senior Director, Scholastic Digital Learning Solutions
Joseph M. Castagno, Senior Editorial Director
Deirdre Casey, Executive Editor, La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre
Barbara Letta Cole, Executive Editor
Ronald B. Roth, Executive Editor and Copy Chief; Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
Tone Ruccio, Creative Director
Gwendolyn Ruiz, Photo Researcher
Patricia Barrows, Senior Editor
Sara A. Boak, Video Coordinator; Senior Copy Editor
Laurie Brearley, Senior Editor
Karen Fairchild, Editor
Rosemarie Kent, Editorial Assistant
Janet Lipareli, Assistant Editor
Kevin Mayer, Senior Editor
Scott Monje, Senior Editor
Evelyn Samoré, Senior Editor
Darren Sechrist, Senior Editor
Barbara Winard, Senior Editor
Matthew Ziem, Senior Editor
Patricia Raether, Production Supervisor
William Byler, Production Manager, Publishing Technologies
Raymond Casey, CMS Administrator/Senior Programmer
Felicia Dixon, Software Engineer
Claire Dunn, Senior Software Engineer
Richard E. Dye, Senior Software Engineer
Meghan O'Reilly Fiero, Editorial Content Manager
Nancy C. Laigner, Online Database Specialist
Greg Mandas, Database Administrator
Carmine Mauriello, Senior Software Engineer
Susan Meyer, Project Manager
Diane Palmer, Software Engineer
John Palmer, Senior Software Engineer
Christine Reisel, Product Development Specialist
Amanda Gilbertie Routhier, Quality Assurance Analyst
Venetia Scalo, Senior Product Development Specialist
Nabeel Shahzad, Software Engineer
Dave Knight, Senior Systems/Network Administrator
Tom Reardon, Senior Systems/Network Administrator
Irina Balakina, Internet Links Manager
Grolier Online partners with EBSCO Publishing and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) to offer portions of their databases to Grolier Online readers. Both partners are known leaders in the areas of periodical content and bibliographic resources. Grolier Online users can access pre-selected, subject-specific periodical articles and bibliographical citations directly 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 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, Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, and The New Book of Knowledge. Links to selected OCLC WorldCat® holdings are included only in 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. Its broad range of full-text and bibliographic databases include popular magazines, education journals, newspapers, newswires, transcripts, pamphlets, reports, primary source documents, biographies, and almanacs. All are designed to meet the reference needs of students, teachers, and researchers of all ages.
OCLC. OCLC is a nonprofit organization that provides computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, and preservation services to 41,000 libraries in 82 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 50 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 4,000 years of recorded history—from stone tablets to e-books, and from wax recordings to MP3s.
Grolier Online is a registered trademark of Scholastic, Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright© 2011 by Scholastic, Inc. All rights reserved.
Scholastic, Inc., Scholastic Library Publishing, Scholastic Digital Learning Solutions, Grolier Online, TrueFlix, True Books, Children's Press, and/or the names of Scholastic products referenced herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Scholastic, Inc. and/or its affiliates. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE
By using this site, you signify your consent to these terms of use. If you do not agree to these terms of use, please do not use the site.
This site is owned and operated by Scholastic Inc. ("Scholastic"). Unless otherwise indicated, the contents of Grolier Online are the property of Scholastic and are protected, without limitation, pursuant to U.S. and foreign copyright and trademark laws. No material from Grolier Online may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except that you may download copies of the materials on any computer for noncommercial use only in your classroom, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Modification of the materials or use of the materials for any other purpose is a violation of Scholastic's copyright, trademark, and trade secret rights and others' proprietary rights. For purposes of this Agreement, the use of any such material on any other Web Site or networked computer environment is prohibited.
In the event you download software from the site, the software including any files, images incorporated in or generated by the software and data accompanying the Software (together, the "Software") are licensed to you by Scholastic. Scholastic does not transfer title to the Software to you. As between you and Scholastic, Scholastic retains full and complete right, title, and interest in and to the Software and all intellectual property rights therein. You may not redistribute, sell, decompile, reverse-engineer or disassemble the Software.
Derogatory, harmful, or unlawful conduct is not permitted on Grolier Online. Users are not permitted to upload to, distribute through, or otherwise publish through Grolier Online any content that is libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, illegal or otherwise objectionable that would constitute or encourage a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or otherwise give rise to liability or violate any law. Users are solely responsible for the content of their messages. Scholastic is not responsible for the content or accuracy of any information posted or transmitted by users of Grolier Online.
This Agreement is effective until terminated by either party. You may terminate this Agreement at any time by destroying all materials obtained from Grolier Online and all related documentation and all copies and installments thereof whether made under the terms of this Agreement or otherwise. This Agreement will terminate immediately, without notice from Scholastic, if in Scholastic's sole discretion you fail to comply with any term or provision of this Agreement, if you are a repeat infringer of any third party's rights, or if you engage in conduct that is illegal, tortious, or that interferes with the technological operation of this site. Upon termination, you must destroy all materials obtained from Grolier Online and all copies thereof, whether made under the terms of this Agreement or otherwise.
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Grolier Online is controlled and operated by Scholastic from its offices in New York, United States of America. Scholastic makes no representation that materials on Grolier Online are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access Grolier Online from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. Software from this site is further subject to United States export controls. No software from Grolier Online may be downloaded or otherwise exported or re-exported (i) into (or to a national or resident of) Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Syria, or any other country to which the United States has embargoed goods; or (ii) to anyone on the U.S. Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals or the U.S. Commerce Department's Table of Deny Orders. By downloading or using the Software, you represent and warrant that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or on any such list.
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Notification of a copyright infringement claim must be submitted to the following: Charles B. Deull, Senior Vice President, General CounselScholastic Inc.555 BroadwayNew York, NY 10012Phone: (212) 343-6633E-mail: cdeull@Scholastic.com
The notification must be in writing and include:
We at Grolier Online are committed to protecting the privacy and security of our online subscribers. For details about our privacy policies, click here.
Grolier Online has long been committed to providing easy access, powerful functionality, and a wealth of content for its users. Since 2002, all of the Grolier Online major encyclopedia databases have been updated to meet Section 508 accessibility requirements. Adherence to these requirements is achieved through accessibility features including keyboard shortcuts, bypass links, limited use of graphic buttons, text alternatives, table summaries, and design considerations. Additionally, Grolier Online makes every effort to provide compatibility with third-party assistive devices. All of the encyclopedia databases have been designed with the needs of the hearing, visual, and physically impaired in mind to provide all users equal access to the information contained therein.
We 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.
Please note that the embedded url is valid only when used on a workstation with an IP address or address range that is known to us; it cannot be used for home access.
We support remote access with a variety of methods. To learn more about how to establish remote access privileges, please call our customer-service staff at 1-888-326-6546.
The frame (we call it the "GO frame") at the top of each page gives users the ability to search all licensed databases simultaneously from any point in Grolier Online using a large "Find It Fast" search box. The search results are listed in easy-to-identify, color-coded numbers, ranging from 1, the easiest or lowest Lexile reading range, to 4, which is the hardest or highest. To the right of the search box is the "Advanced Search" feature, which gives users the ability to clarify, organize, or further constrain a search. The GO frame also features links to the site’s "About" and "Help" documents and to its "Passport" and "Kids" environments.
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). 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.
The easiest way to create a shortcut to Grolier Online is to point your browser at the desired tab 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.
The following operating systems and browsers are supported:
We recommend running Macintosh® OS X 10.4.11 or higher with the following browsers: Safari 2.x or higher and Firefox 2.x and higher (Firefox 3 requires OS X 10.4 or higher).
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.
The only plug-ins required are Apple Inc. QuickTime® and Adobe Flash Player®. Currently, the only video player required or supported by Grolier Online is QuickTime®. For streaming video, if you are using anything below Flash Player® version 9, you will need to upgrade to a newer version. To update your version of Flash Player® go to http://www.adobe.com. This upgrade is free.
Optimal viewing of Grolier Online streaming video requires a T1 connection or higher and Adobe Flash Player® 9 or higher (this is a free download at http://www.adobe.com).
For PC: We recommend 512 MB of RAM. The following operating systems and browsers are supported:
We also recommend using a 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.
We recommend running Macintosh® OS X 10.4.11 or higher with the following browsers: Safari® 2.x or higher and Firefox® 2.x and higher (Firefox® 3 requires OS X 10.4 or higher) and is best displayed on a 15-inch monitor with the resolution set at 1024 x 768 (will operate fine at 800 x 600) with "thousands of colors" selected.
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.
Yes, we support a variety of remote access methods for our customers. To learn more about how to establish remote access privileges, please call our customer-service staff at 1-888-326-6546.
Yes, all Grolier Online articles can either be printed or e-mailed. The best way to do this is through our Print/E-mail feature located on all encyclopedia database articles toward the upper right-hand side of the page.
By default when you type in http://go.grolier.com, you will be taken to the Grolier Online Middle School interface, or tab, which can also be accessed via http://go-middle.grolier.com
If you wish to set another tab or environment as the default, you may do so at a global, or account level, by calling Grolier Online’s customer-service line at 1-888-326-6546. Or, if you prefer, you can link directly using the following URLs:
Finally, you may also customize tabs and environments on a computer-by-computer basis. To do this, simply click here from the computer that you wish to customize.
Grolier Online's statistical reporting does comply in part. Page views and sessions are broken down by product and month, and a Microsoft's Excel format is available.
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.
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:
If this fails to resolve the problem, please call our customer-service line at 1-888-326-6546.
If this fails to resolve the problem, please call our customer-service line at 1-888-326-6546.
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.
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.
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.
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.