Encarta Dictionary

Technology

(to be written) Encarta made use of various Microsoft technologies. For example, the map engine is adapted from its MapPoint software's. Possibly because Microsoft does not sell planetarium software, Encarta does not generate a star chart instead it has a small interactive constellation-only map. Unlike Microsoft Office, as of 2004, Encarta software only supports Windows. However, a Macintosh or Linux user with Internet connection may access Encarta's informative website.

The virtual flight is very primitive and does not remotely look like the highly popular Microsoft Flight Simulator which features a low-resolution database of the earth's landscape and most airports.

The Encarta software requires Internet Explorer to function.

Database

Search engine

Copy and paste function

Encarta's copy function allows you to selectively copy an entire article or just the highlighted part. Nevertheless, if you copy more than five words from Encarta, it will automatically append a copyright boilerplate message after the selection. Here is a partial sentence taken from Encarta:

Anthony's 53 points and 24 rebounds over the final two games earned him ... .

• If you select five words, your clipboard will read:

Anthony's 53 points and 24

• But if you select six words, your clipboard will read:

Anthony's 53 points and 24 rebounds
Microsoft R Encarta R Reference Library 2005. c 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Even if you only select numbers from a statistics table whose data was collected by the United Nations, Encarta will still append that boilerplate message.

A test search

In addition to the good interface and search capability, Encarta's long articles may usually be a reason why it is sometimes easier to look for something in Encarta.

Encarta's articles are typically longer than Encyclopædia Britannica's. Faced with a broad subject, Britannica's editors usually would break up a long article into multiple shorter articles. This makes it somewhat easier to look for something you know nothing about with Encarta.

Test search: Brazil's history

Except for Brazil, most South American countries speak Spanish. This was caused by an old treaty that broke up South America into a Spanish half and a Portuguese half. Now, without knowing the name and date of the treaty, we'll look for its details.

Encarta (2005)

Since the article Brazil is a very long piece, it is quite easy to look for the word "Treaty" using the search function (F3). It is under Brazil/VII History/A. Discovery.

The Portuguese claim to Brazil stemmed in part from the Treaty of Tordesillas, which Portugal and Spain had signed in 1494 with the pope's blessing. The treaty drew an imaginary line far out into the western Atlantic. With a few exceptions, the Portuguese laid claim to conquered territories to the east of the line, along the African coast; Spain laid claim to territories to the west of the line.

Encyclopædia Britannica (2004)

The article Brazil is a very short one that only has 1,000 words and deals exclusively with Brazil's current status. If you enter "Brazil", "treaty", "Portugal" and "Spain", you will locate "Treaty of Tordesillas" under "The Spanish fronge" article which is No. 7 on the list. However this article does not provide a link to "Treaty of Tordesillas". You have to use the search function again.

Wikipedia

To look for the word "Treaty", you have to:

• Visit Brazil -> History of Brazil -> Colonial Brazil.
• Use a search engine to look for terms: "Brazil" and "treaty". One can use Google's site: operator here to restrict a search to the Wikipedia site, i.e. brazil treaty site:wikipedia.org.

Since Wikipedia does not have an editor-in-chief and many articles are short and focused, it may not always be possible to find something in very few steps, if one does not know the name of the article one is searching for.

Comparison

It is usually easier to use Encarta to locate something. However, Encarta's articles, like most encyclopedias, tend to provide an overview of the subject rather than an exhaustive entry.

Looking for something with Encarta can be pretty easy. However, you may want to use another reference work to double check its information. In this case, the definition of the obsolete length unit "league" is disputed. And Encarta, somewhat improperly, used "Line of Demarcation" as a proper name.

However, Encarta's articles are usually easier to understand. For example, Encyclopædia Britannica used the original term "pole to pole" without explanation. Encarta used "north and south" instead.

Update

Each summer, Microsoft will publish a new release of Encarta. However, despite the inclusion of some news-related articles, Encarta's contents have not been changed substantially in recent years. Besides the yearly update, the installed offline copy may be updated once or twice a month for one year to three years for free depending on the edition.

When the update period expires, Encarta may occassionally display an update advertisement to its user.

Criticism

Information accuracy

Some Encarta articles have been slow to be updated. For example, the 2005 article of John Rawls, a famous political philosopher, opens with "Rawls, John (1921- )", although he died on November 24, 2002. Encarta seemed to have overlooked noting the date of his passing.

U.S.-centered bias

Africana

See also

• Encyclopædia Britannica
• 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
• Wikipedia

External links

• Encarta online (http://encarta.msn.com/) — with limited free access and features.
• Microsoft Encarta product  (http://www.microsoft.com/products/encarta/default.asp)
• History and some other information about Encarta by Microsoft (http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761551647_2/Encyclopedia.html)
• The facts depend on where you are coming from (http://www.btimes.co.za/97/0406/tech/tech6.htm)