New Jersey Voluntary Basic Policy Program ()

Summary
Since not everyone uses the Manuals in exactly the same way, AIPSO offers them in two different electronic formats, each of which has its own set of unique characteristics. Both formats contain the same information; for instance the language of the rules, the structure of the manuals, and the rate tables are identical. What is different is the way this information appears on your computer, and how you are able to use it. For most purposes, the Interactive Manuals are probably the best option to use, but if you need to save or print an offline copy, or it’s important that you see the exact appearance of the paper manuals, then you should use the PDFs. Read on for more specific information about the differences between the two formats.

Interactive Manuals
The Interactive Manuals use technology called Trove from Ringwood Software to organize, index, and present the entire contents of the Plan Manuals. This software makes it easier to retrieve only the information you want, or to research a particular subject. We refer to them as "interactive" because they can only be used while you are online, connected to our server over the Internet. Here are a few of the features and limitations of the Interactive Manuals:

You do not need anything other than your browser to view the Interactive Manuals.
You cannot download the Interactive Manual and use it offline.
The Interactive Manual displays only the section of the manuals that you are reading at the moment. You do not need to wait while the entire manual is transmitted to your PC.
The Interactive Manuals are always up to date. When changes to rules or rates go into effect, they are immediately incorporated into the appropriate sections of the Interactive Manuals. No user action is required.
The text and tables contained in the Interactive Manuals look quite different from the paper versions: they have been formatted for use on your computer screen. Some changes you will notice include: the font size and type are different (usually larger), the text is not divided into columns, there are no page numbers, and resizing the display window will cause lines of text to "wrap" in different places in much the same way that different margins affect text in a word processor.
If you print what you see while using the Interactive Manuals, the results will vary depending on which browser you use, and which print options you select. In any case, the output will always be quite different from paper manuals obtained from AIPSO.
The Interactive Manuals provide an indexed "Table of Contents" which you can use to jump directly to any section of the manual which interests you.
AIPSO has defined links between related sections, allowing users to move quickly and directly between related sections.
Every word in the Interactive Manuals is indexed, and these manuals provide powerful search capabilities. Among these are wildcard searching; the ability to combine search terms with AND and OR operators; the ability to easily identify only the "hits" contained within a particular section of the manual; and information on the number of occurrences of your search phrase (by section).
The Interactive Manuals provide access to both current and prior versions, for those interested in researching the status of Plan rules as of a particular past date.

For more information on using our Interactive Manuals, see the article "Interactive Manual tutorial". If you are interested in learning more about the Trove software product, see http://www.ringwood.com.

Adobe PDF Files
The PDF section provides electronic files which are identical in format to the paper manuals. Their primary purpose is to give users a way to print a copy which will match the paper manuals distributed by AIPSO. Here are a few of the features and limitations of the PDF files:

You must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your system in order to view these files.
You may download any of the PDF files and save them for use at a later time, when you may not have access to the Internet.
The PDF versions of rules and rates manuals are generally pretty large files, and you typically must wait until the whole file has downloaded before you can use it.
A copy of a PDF manual which you have saved on your system will not be automatically updated when manual changes go into effect. In order to update your copy, you will need to download it all over again.
The PDF files always display exactly the same appearance as the printed paper manuals. Fonts, page numbering, columns, etc. will display identically regardless of the fonts, software, or operating system installed on your system.
The PDF files will always print with the same format as paper manuals obtained from AIPSO.
PDF files provide no indexed "Table of Contents" for navigation within the document. Users must either page through the manual or use the "Find" feature to jump directly to a particular section.
There are no direct hyperlinks between related sections of the PDF files.
The PDF "Find" feature is slower and more limited than that found in the Interactive Manuals: it functions more or less the same way that the "Find" feature of a word processor would work.
PDF files are usually only available for rules and rates currently in effect. Obsolete versions are deleted.

For more information on the PDF file format check the Adobe Systems website at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/adobepdf.html.