Content area
Full Text
Visual Dictionary Online
RR 2014/183
Merriam-Webster
QA International
Montreal
URL: http://visual.merriam-webster.com/
Last visited March 2014
Gratis
Keywords Dictionaries, Electronic media, Visual databases
Review DOI 10.1108/RR-03-2014-0063
The Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online claims to have 20,000 terms with contextual definitions created by terminology experts as well as 6,000 full-color images. It is part of the Merriam-Webster free online resources which include a traditional dictionary, thesaurus, medical dictionary and encyclopedia. Unlike the other Merriam-Webster resources though, which are published by Merriam-Webster - itself an Encyclopedia Britannica company - the Visual Dictionary Online is produced by a company called QA International, a visual reference resource publisher. While the Visual Dictionary
Review DOI 10.1108/RR-03-2014-0063
Online contains a wealth of educational images, its search functions are problematic and the prevalence of advertising acts as a distraction and an impediment.
The homepage loads quickly, but it is so overwhelmed with advertising that it is difficult to discern what is part of the dictionary and what is an advertisement. Three search boxes appear along the top of the page: one to...