World Book to Offer New Generation of Reference Products in Versabook Format

Posted on March 29, 1999

Versaware Technologies today announced an agreement with World Book to convert and market a range of World Book products in the Versabook format. The first book to be released in the new format will be the World Book Medical Encyclopedia, with three additional titles to follow by the end of the year.

In addition to converting the content and providing technological support, the joint agreement calls for Versaware to market the products to consumers through its direct distribution network, while World Book will offer the titles as part of its own educational and library channels. Together with the Medical Encyclopedia, the first group of "intelligent content" World Books will include the new World Book People and Places, a six-volume introductory geography and culture series, the World Book Children's Atlas and the World Book Children's Illustrated Dictionary. All four titles will be released as Versabook CDs and will continue to be available in print editions.

"The Versabook format is ideal for cost-effectively transforming our highly graphical, cross-referenced materials into digital form," said Michael Ross, Publisher of World Book. "This partnership offers our customers acclaimed World Book content with previously unattainable utility and delivery options."

Versaware's technologies convert reference titles, textbooks and other content into a media-rich electronic format called Versabook. Versabooks can be purchased as CD/DVDs or downloaded over the Internet and provide a range of advanced applications, especially the ability to search across multiple books simultaneously. Multimedia enhancements provide users with animations, pictures, sounds, music, maps and more.