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(Note from the Washington State Library: In order to participate in the Fall 1999 Washington State Databases Trial, each vendor was asked to address questions the Statewide Database Licensing Committee felt were most critical in order for library staff to evaluate products and vendors. Please contact the vendor's representative, listed below, for additional information on this product.)
1. Describe the database product(s). Include information on subject scope, percentage of full-text, dates of coverage, target audience (including age ranges), and how often the contents are updated.
Britannica Online was first offered by subscription in the fall of 1994 and was the first encyclopaedia on the World Wide Web. Britannica Online contains the full text of Encyclop�dia Britannica, the oldest and largest general purpose encyclopedia in the world. In addition to the 76,000 articles from the Britannica print set, Britannica Online also includes Merriam-Webster’s 10th Collegiate Dictionary, hypertext links to over 133,000 Britannica-approved Internet sites from Britannica Online articles, as well as periodic multi-media rich Spotlight features. There are also over 1 million internal links to other references and content within Britannica Online.
COMING SOON – Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. has recently acquired the rights to the Compton’s Online database, which will be made available as part of the Britannica Online subscription in the Fall 1999!
2. What are the hardware and software requirements for using all the features of the product?
Britannica Online can be viewed and used from any PC that is configured to browse the Web. There are no other hardware or software requirements.
3. Is remote access included for the subscription price? If there are additional charges or requirements in order to offer remote access, please describe. What methods of remote access are supported?
Remote access is supported and permitted for faculty and staff of K12 schools and academics, as well as students of subscribing academics either through the institution’s SLIP/PPP accounts or proxy servers, free of charge.
Verified patron dial-in access for public libraries is offered by taking 7% of the total population served by those libraries to determine the number of weighted users, and applying it to our pricing schedule. Britannica offers home subscriptions to families of students at subscribing K-12 institutions for the discounted annual price of $19.95, versus the normal $50 annual price.
4. Please discuss any methods or assistance you offer regarding remote access patron verification and authentication.
If a subscribing site wants to provide remote access, they must have a secure web page. Dial-up users should be authenticated before they get access to this page. Britannica will provide a general as well as technical explanation of what needs to be done on the subscriber’s end, as well as additional HTML script , which can be found at http://subscribe.eb.com/inst_remote.html.
5. What end user delivery options, such as printing, emailing or faxing results, are available beyond just viewing results on the computer monitor?
Authorized users may access, print, fax, e-mail or download information in Britannica Online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without additional cost, within applicable copyright laws, for personal or academic research and not for commercial or other purposes.
6. What customer training is provided, and at what cost?
Britannica has developed an in-depth training video presentation that we send to subscribing sites upon request at no charge. On-site local and regional training can also be arranged again at no charge. Also, any new subscribing sites to Britannica Online are sent e-mail search instructions and support information. Large supplies of How-to-use brochures, posters, stand-up cards are provided at no charge to every subscribing site along with ad slicks and a sample press release.
Britannica sends update e-mails to our contacts at all subscribing institutions describing new features, enhancements, Spotlight features, etc. Additional communications are sent as events warrant.
7. What customer and technical support is provided, including hours of operation.
Britannica Online is available 168 hours per week (24 hours/day, 7 days/week). Britannica Online provides its subscribers with the availability of technical support 24 hours/day, 7 days/week by either phone @ (800) 326-5435 or email at [email protected]
8. Describe the statistics you provide, and discuss whether your statistical reporting complies with guidelines developed by the International Coalition of Library Consortia which may be found at www.library.yale.edu/consortia/webstats.html .
Usage statistics for Britannica Online for each institution are available to the Britannica contact at the subscribing institution, displaying daily and running totals of the numbers of Britannica URLs accessed as Queries ("Why is the sky blue?"), Documents (articles opened), and Other (images, etc.). Usage statistics are available for the IP addresses specified by the institution or by the Username/Password assigned in the Britannica cookie-based authentication. A customer-accessible Web system is available, and currently being used by most of the Consortium Adopters of these standards.
9. Describe your pricing structure or formula for the product. If there are additional costs for retrieving full text, describe the pricing for this service.
Britannica Online subscription pricing is determined by the weighted FTE based upon the type of institution. We currently have an agreement in place with the Orbis Library Consortium to offer Britannica Online subscriptions at a discounted rate of only $.433 per weighted FTE (plus a $100 administration fee.)
Any academics, K12 schools, public and specialty libraries in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Idaho and Montana are eligible to subscribe to Britannica Online through Orbis at the discounted rate. For more information or to subscribe, please visit:
10. What is the minimum participation level (however you care to define it) that would be needed to allow participating libraries to receive a discount? What is the minimum discount for a group buy? Please clarify how you would treat existing library customers with regard to a group buy.
Please see the Orbis Library Consortium discount pricing in #9.
11. Please provide name and contact information (toll-free telephone number, e-mail address, hours, etc.) should libraries wish to make further inquires.
Michael M. Ehlers
Director, Educational Telemarketing and Sales Support
Encyclop�dia Britannica, Inc.
Britannica Centre
310 S. Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60604Phone: 800-621-3900 x7380
Fax: 800-344-9624
E-mail: [email protected]
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