Encarta Reference Library 2002 The World At Your Fingertips

I remember the day we decided to purchase a copy of the World Book Encyclopedia for my son who was entering high school. It cost about $400.00 at that time and was a far sight better than the ones I had used as a child.

I had an ancient copy of The Book of Knowledge in 24 volumes and a classic edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica I had spent hours perusing both encyclopedias and I was impressed with the color and format of this new set.

I knew that the Encyclopedia we were buying was already outdated. Yes, there was a yearbook option, but then it was a pain to try to sort through the yearbooks to located recent current events.

In the 80's, when I started computing, I envisioned the day when encyclopedias would be available in electronic format. I also thought that they would be expensive, as most software was back it those days.

Who could have foreseen the advent of multimedia and CD-ROMS? Today, there are any number of Electronic multimedia encyclopedias available. Some for under $10.00!

Even the prestigious Encyclopedia Britannica is available on CD-ROM. But, it is not inexpensive.

For shear value and absolute ease of use and total utility, my choice is the Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition. This learning tool is a sheer joy to use. It offers the total exploration of knowledge in multi dimensional, and multimedia excitement.

The screen at the left is the opening screen of the program. Each module is self-explanatory. Essentially, it is your magic carpet to the past, present and future. Think of Encarta as an electronic time machine. From the dawn of time to predictions about the future it is all here for you. One of my favorite features is a game called Mindmaze. MindMaze  scores you on your knowledge. It is interactive and reminds me of Myst in it's exploring aspects. Learning is transformed into a truly enjoyable experience in every phase of the program!

The game starts with you entering a castle door. You go from room to room answering questions and scoring points. Head for the room outlined in red. In order to get there you answer questions along the way.

Learning with En2 is fun and interesting!

As with all encyclopedias, you start out by looking for the specific item you want to research and soon you find yourself exploring the other articles in the program. You can explore old worlds or the ones that  exploring old worlds and new ones that lie beyond the planets.

Today's educational marvels such as Microsoft En2 are far superior to the limited tools I used as a boy. I really wish I had Encarta when I was in school!

The screen above depicts the Suleymaniye Mosque in Turkey. In addition to the text pertaining to the mosque, you can also get a 360 degree view of the mosque by moving your mouse. En2 is a truly spectacular program will boggle your mind.

A general floor plan of the mosque is shown on the lower left of the screen. Your virtual tour will take you through the Mosque.

If you decide to lean about John F. Kennedy, you will be given an overview of his life including his military service and meeting Mrs. Kennedy. as his life history progresses, the pictures pertaining to them change as well. A list of related topics appear on the screen to allow you to research various things in greater depth that pertain to the Kennedy Years.

Using a combination of music, animated graphics and film clips, the experience of researching historical happenings come alive.

If this were not enough, the program is updated frequently. You are notified that updates are available. Your encyclopedia is as recent as yesterday's news. History is recorded instantly. I updated my program on May 4th. The updated information covered articles with yesterday's date! Talk about value! It amazes me that people are still willing to pay more than $1200.00 for a paper based Encyclopedia such as the Britannica, which is what is costs today. Britannica offers a

CD-ROM  version for about the same price as Encarta. I think En2 is superior to the Britannica offering.

With more than 67,000 articles and 25,000 photos and illustrations and several thousand sound clips and videos.  EN2 provides the best value in electronic encyclopedias. For further research, there are more than 26,000 World Wide Web links.

In addition, as an owner of Me2, you are entitled to utilize the Encarta-On-Line web site for even more information and reference recommendations.

Included in 2 Is Encarta Researcher. This outstanding module will help you gather notes and photos you or your child can use in a report. This handy tool is worth the price of the program all by itself.  It teaches your child how to conduct research, where to look for additional resources and how to outline and organize their projects. Learning this method will assist your child in developing the type of writing style that will be a tremendous asset to his/her educational career.

Unique in this version is the addition of Sidebars. Little panels of information appear that contain comments or ideas about the subject by other parties or other literary excerpts that shed more light on the subject.

Encarta FactFinder enables you to quickly search for a subject and offers a number of search points for further information. r

Here I have entered "Osama" and the FactFinder offers three linked direct references to Osama bin Laden. In addition by linking to the Internet Section below the references, you are taken to another 200+ references and a selection of Bin Laden  jokes. Note also the instant access to several other features such as a  dictionary, thesaurus, and even

stock quotations!

If you prefer, you can have the program read the text for you in a computer like voice. This capability ushers in the era of computer voice capability and I suspect that we will be hearing programs of the future instructing us about the program, and reading to us. I suspect the voice quality will be very human-like as the technology develops.

If you use an Atlas, ME2 had an elaborate map module. You can literally spin the globe, choose a section you want to see, and a detailed map of that area (Western Europe) in the example below and Encarta instantly produces a map for you.

You can also take both 2dimensional and three dimensional tours of famous places such as the Acropolis in Greece and Abu Simbel in Egypt.

The tour of the Coliseum has music as well as a site locator that shows you the animal pens underground as well as other features such as the awning as it was in ancient times. The slider in the lower left corner is a dynamic morph of the Coliseum as it was then to the present day picture. The transition is smooth and makes the Coliseum come alive. Every aspect of this program will amaze and educate you.

I have become an Encarta junkie. I love to explore the treasure chest of knowledge stored in the program. It comes as no surprise that En2 is found in a majority of American schools today.

Even if you don't have kids living at home, Microsoft Encarta ME2 Edition is a must have for people who like to learn about the world they live in and explore places outside their everyday realm.

Visit the Microsoft Web Site at...

www.microsoft.com

Date Last Edited 04/25/07