FAQs

General Questions

Technical Questions

General Questions

What is Blackwell Reference Online?

Blackwell Reference Online is a vast online library giving instant access to the most authoritative and up -to-date scholarship across the humanities and social sciences. Featuring the full text of over 500 of Wiley-Blackwell’s acclaimed companions, handbooks, dictionaries, and guides (with more titles added each year), Blackwell Reference Online is a vital addition to a library’s teaching and learning resources, and the ideal springboard to further study for students and scholars.

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To go on a guided tour of Blackwell Reference Online, click here.

What subject areas are included in Blackwell Reference Online

  • Business and Management
  • History
  • Language and Linguistics
  • Philosophy and Religion
  • Literature and Cultural Studies
  • Sociology, Psychology,and Anthropology
  • Classics
  • Film, Media & Communication Studies
  • Geography

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What titles are included in Blackwell Reference Online

Click here for a full listing of titles available.

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How can I buy Blackwell Reference Online

You can buy a yearly collection, or purchase the Complete Collection

Original Collection 302 titles
2008 55 titles
2009 24 titles
2010 44 titles
2011 45 titles
2012 65 titles
Complete collection 535 titles

Pricing is based on the size of your institution (FTE).

Each year additional titles will be available to add to your collection.

Please contact your Wiley-Blackwell Account Manager or libraryinfo@wiley.com to get specific pricing and ordering information for your institution.

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Can I have a trial of Blackwell Reference Online

Yes, we can arrange trials for institutions. To request a trial mail, libraryinfo@wiley.com.

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Can individuals subscribe to Blackwell Reference Online

No, at this time individuals cannot subscribe. If you are interested in the product, please recommend it to your librarian. You can use our simple recommendation form to alert your librarian of your interest.

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How often is Blackwell Reference Online updated?

Blackwell Reference Online is updated once a year with the latest reference titles available. You can add these new titles to your collection for a fee. Please contact your Wiley-Blackwell Account Manager or libraryinfo@wiley.com.

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Is the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology included?

No. It does share the same platform, if you subscribe to both, you will benefit from cross linking and referencing. Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology is available as a one-off purchase or subscription. For more information, click here.

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Is the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management included?

Yes. If you purchase the Original Collection, or the Complete Collection you will have access to the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management.

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Is the International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest included?

No. It does share the same platform, if you subscribe to both, you will benefit from cross linking and referencing. The International Encyclopedia of Communication is available as a one-off purchase or subscription. For more information, click here.

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Is the International Encyclopedia of Communication included?

No. It does share the same platform, if you subscribe to both, you will benefit from cross linking and referencing. The International Encyclopedia of Communication is available as a one-off purchase or subscription. For more information, click here.

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Technical Questions

What user functionality is available in Blackwell Reference Online

Blackwell Reference Online is on a specially designed platform to give you the best in functionality:

  • Search by subject, person, period, key topic and place
  • Search individual titles or the whole database
  • Frequent illustrations enhance content
  • Multi-disciplinary Scholarship section
  • “Explore” functionality enables users to create their own multi-disciplinary “playlist”
  • Bibliographic references are OpenURL compliant to allow mediated linking between chapter bibliographies and references with your library services
  • Cross linking and referencing with Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest, International Encyclopedia of Communication, Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Literature, A Companion to Phonology and International Studies Encyclopedia Online if purchased.

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What library services does Blackwell Reference Online support

Blackwell Reference Online offers the full range of library services to enable seamless integration into your library:

  • Unlimited, concurrent access for multiple users
  • MARC records available through OCLC WorldCat Collection
  • COUNTER-compliant usage data
  • DOI at book and chapter/entry level ensure permanent URLs for easy upload to your library’s OPAC
  • Open URL compliance
  • Browse and search by ISBN, title or keyword
  • Navigate by subject, person, period, place or key topic
  • Flexible access 24/7
  • Free course-pack use and walk-in user access
  • OpenURL technology is supported.
  • Customise site with your institutional branding

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Are usage statistics provided?

Yes. You will be given administrative access to the subscriber services area where you can access a full range of usage statistics. The reports are COUNTER compliant.

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Is there a limit to the number of concurrent users?

No. Institutional access is unlimited.

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How do users gain access to the full text articles?

Once the user is authenticated they will have immediate access to the full text of all articles.

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How is access controlled?

IP recognition, ATHENS, referrer URL and user name and password

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What should I do if I have technical difficulties, or if I still have questions?

Please use this form if you are experiencing technical difficulties. For questions, please contact your Wiley-Blackwell Account Manager or libraryinfo@wiley.com

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What are the technical standards that Blackwell Reference Online conforms to?

Every page on the site will comply with the following criteria:

1) HTML validity. All pages delivered will be valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional, as defined by the W3C

2) Screen resolution. All pages will be useable (with no horizontal scrolling wherever possible) when the screen resolution is set to 800x600 pixels.

3) Color. All pages will be useable when the color depth is set to 256 colours.

4) Window re-sizing. All pages will correctly re-flow text and images when browser windows are resized; line lengths for textual material will always be relative to the current window size.

5) Frames. No frames will be used in the entire site.

6) Platforms and browsers. Pages will display fully on the following platform and browser combinations:

  • Windows IE
  • Windows Netscape
  • Macintosh IE
  • Macintosh Netscape
  • Macintosh Safari
  • Mozilla
  • Firefox
  • Lynx
  • Opera

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7) Unicode. Unicode will be used to render accented and non-roman characters in site pages. The encoding used to deliver Unicode characters will be UTF-8.

8) Text size. The stylesheets used to format text on the site will not set absolute point sizes; this will allow the user to re-size the text to a comfortable reading size using the controls that their browser provides.

9) Cookies. Usage of cookies for users of the sites may be mandatory for certain areas of the web site.

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What are your terms for copying/coursepacks?

We waive the copyright costs for personal and student course use.

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What kind of reference linking does Blackwell Reference Online use?

Open URL linking.

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Resources



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Blackwell Reference Online ® is a Blackwell Publishing Inc. registered trademark
Technology partner: Semantico Ltd.

Copyright

Blackwell Publishing and its licensors hold the copyright in all material held in Blackwell Reference Online. No material may be resold or published elsewhere without Blackwell Publishing's written consent, save as authorised by a licence with Blackwell Publishing or to the extent required by the applicable law.

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