Thank you for your subscription to World Book Online!
This guide is designed to help you with questions you may have with your subscribed products. Please share this information with anyone that is involved with getting your patrons connected to World Book, including the technical department at your institution.
The following subjects are covered in this guide:
World Book Online is hosted by one of the largest Internet service providers in North America. The network continually strives to maintain over 400% availability above peak bandwidth, to ensure customer access even under the heaviest online traffic.
However the availability of World Book Online is dependant on more than the hosting environment provided by World Book’s systems. There are several other factors that can affect availability including:
World Book Online Uptime Reports
After logging in, the Administrator can verify the account’s standing by referring to the Manage Account page and checking the dates for the subscribed products. If the subscriptions have expired, please contact your World Book Sales Representative.
After logging in to My Account, click on Authentication and then select the authentication type that has been pre-configured. These include: IP Address, ID Password, Referring URL and Library Card number.
If the Administrator has not provided access information to Customer Service or if the authentication types displayed in My Account are incorrect, Customer Service should be consulted so that these may be configured.
World Book recommends that Security and Privacy be set to Medium.
World Book Online requires JavaScript to be set to Enabled.
The browser’s minimum requirements must be met in order for the browser to function normally, including the speed and memory of the user’s computer. For a list of the Minimum Requirements, consult your browser’s Help file or the browser manufacturer’s website.
Private IP addresses are commonly used within an institution’s internal network. Private IPs cannot be used to access World Book directly, but rather the public IP must be provided instead.
The following are private IPs and their ranges which should not be supplied to Customer Service for access to World Book:
010.000.000.000 to 010.255.255.255
172.016.000.000 to 172.031.255.255
192.168.000.000 to 192.168.255.255
169.254.000.000 to 169.254.255.255
If a user accessing World Book Online is experiencing slowness or other issues relating to access by subscribed users, there are several tests that can be conducted in order to help identify the source of the issue. Below are steps which can be taken in this process:
Check the Welcome Message by logging in to World Book Online. If the Super Homepage is not displayed by default, it may be accessed by clicking the link “Switch to another World Book Site” found near the bottom of each webpage.
When accessing World Book Online, users should utilize the custom URL for their institution’s account. This URL will be in the format:
//www.worldbookonline.com/?subacct=XXXXX
where XXXXX would be replaced by your institution’s World Book account number.
If the Welcome Message displayed is not that of your institution, or if there are questions regarding the use of the custom URL, contact Customer Service.
Test the Internet connection by accessing an unauthenticated page on World Book Online such as the World Book Training site:
//www.worldbookonline.com/training
A successful page load of an unauthenticated page on World Book Online indicates that Internet access for the user is functioning normally.
If the user cannot reach an unauthenticated page of World Book Online, consult your institution’s technical department to have the Internet access checked.
//www.worldbookonline.com/test
Copy and paste all of the information on the test results page and send this to wboltech@worldbook.com along with a description of the issue and your contact information.
Once tested, scroll down to the very bottom of the test page to World Book Web Access Details.
Copy and paste all of the information regarding your access and send this to wboltech@worldbook.com along with a description of the issue and your contact information.
The following technical specifications are for advanced users and IT professionals. Please consult with your technical department regarding the following tests and configurations:
//www.worldbookonline.com
http://worldbook.planetasaber.com
//www.google-analytics.com
http://www.edgate.com
//www.adobe.com
www.media.worldbookonline.com
Consult with your institution’s technical department for more information regarding security software and firewall settings.
A traceroute may be conducted from the user’s computer to World Book Online by making a traceroute to //www.worldbookonline.com. After conducting a traceroute to World Book, send the results to wboltech@worldbook.com along with your contact information and a description of the issue.
Additionally, a traceroute may be conducted by World Book to the user’s network. For this test, your institution’s public IP address should be supplied to Customer Service.
World Book recommends that customers consult with their technical department when conducting traceroutes or providing their network’s IP information.
WINDOWS: Open the command line by going to Start>Run then entering CMD EXE. In the command line enter TRACERT WWW.WORLDBOOKONLINE.COM to run the traceroute.
MACINTOSH: Open the Termimal by going to Applications>Terminal then entering traceroute //www.worldbookonline.com in the terminal window.
Title World Book Online
URL http://www.worldbookonline.com
Domain worldbookonline.com
If World Book Hispánica Saber: Gran Enciclopedia Hispánica has been subscribed, an additional line is required in the ezproxy.cfg file:
If your institution is currently using a federated search, World Book recommends that you contact your federated search vendor and request that they integrate the World Book federated search API for all of your World Book products.
Referring URL - Home Access Made Easy
The benefits of using Referring URL for home access are that it is easy to implement and even easier for users to remotely access World Book Online.
Requirements:
The requirements for Referring URL authentication are:
Once the requirements above have been implemented, the link will begin working immediately. Users will not need to remember any passwords or web addresses for World Book. They will go to your site, log in, and click the link. It’s that easy.
Definitions:
This html code may be cut and pasted into your secure webpage:
<a href="//www.worldbookonline.com">World Book Online</a>
Here is an example of a static URL that will work with Referring URL:
http://www.mywebsite.edu/reference/online-resources.html
A dynamic URL that changes with each visit might look like this:
http://www.mywebsite.edu/reference/default.php?id=1154443575
If the last number, or any part of the address changes with each visit to the page, or after logging out and logging back in, then the URL is Dynamic. Dynamic addresses will not work with Referring URL access. A static URL is required, where the address does not change.
Best Practices:
Here are some tips on getting the Referring URL link up and running:
Linking to World Book Online
The Web Graphics feature provides an easy to use method to access World Book Online. These graphics will provide a weblink from your website to World Book Online products to which you have subscribed.
The Web Graphic includes an icon for the World Book product of your choice and the link to the product all in one. Just cut and paste the embed code into your webpage and the graphic and link will work automatically.
To access the Web Graphics page:
The Web Graphics page provides graphics which link directly to each online product offered by World Book, as well as a main World Book Online graphic, which links to the Super Homepage.
To place a Web Graphic on your institution’s webpage:
Best Practices:
World Book provides an application that will install a search widget for computers using Mac operating systems. When installed, this application will provide direct links to your World Book products via a small icon on a Mac’s dashboard, and will automatically bypass the World Book login screen.
Mac System Requirements: To download and install the search widget for World Book Online on a Macintosh computer, you will need the following:
Mac Installation Instructions for the World Book Search Widget:
Note: These instructions assume that your Web browser's "download location" setting points to the computer's desktop. If it points to another location, you can move the downloaded file from that location to the desktop and continue with the installation.
Changing your ID and Password: To change the ID and Password you can click on the i button on the widget and update the appropriate fields.
World Book Online provides many features which are customized to your account. These are called “Localizations.” Localization features may be set manually in you’re my Account administrator control panel or can be invoked automatically by accessing your subscription with a Customer Identifier. Additionally, Usage Reports can be provided specific to your institution, if your account has been previously configured for usage collection and the patrons access World Book Online with a Customer Identifier.
Customer Identifier Definitions:
Localization: Any feature which is customized to the user’s account.
These include:
Usage Reporting: Statistical monthly tabulation of the patron usage of World Book Online. Usage reports detail estimated hits, sessions, searches and content views. Reports are available with an administrator’s login to My Account. Use of a Customer Identifier is required to accurately log usage.
Customer Identifier: Any method of identifying the user’s account, location and method of access for the purpose of providing Localization and Usage Reporting.
These include:
URL Based CID
The URL based CID is the preferred method of identification. Anywhere a patron may receive instruction or linking for World Book Online, the URL based CID should be used.
Why use the CID URL?
The following methods are provided by World Book for URL Based CID identification:
Username and Password
Username and password is perhaps the most commonly used method of authentication. If your login is unique to your institution, it may also be used to identify the patrons who are accessing from your institution.
IP Authentication
IP authentication may be used for both authentication and identification, if your institution has IPs that are unique to your institution and are not shared with others. If your institution is part of a consortium or if there is a known proxy server in your network, please consult with your technical department.
Referring URL
Referring URL may be used for both authentication and identification, if your institution has a webpage that is unique to your institution and is not shared with others.
Browsers:
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Chrome | ![]() |
Internet Explorer Version 11.0 and higher |
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Mozilla Firefox Version 17.0 and higher |
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Safari Version 6.0 and higher |
Following Plug-ins are needed to use site
For full accessibility, please add the following sites to your network white list:
Following setting should be enabled
Questions? Contact World Book Online Support:
USA: 1-800-338-8382
Canada: 1-800-837-5365
Email: wboltech@worldbook.com
Last updated: 11-4-2015
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