Microsoft Encarta - The World at your Fingertips (MS Encarta Encyclopedia 2000)

Member Name: thespurs

Product:	MS Encarta Encyclopedia 2000
Date:	12/12/04 (504 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very easy to use, Has a wealth of information, Uses a number of different forms of data representation

Disadvantages: Language can be difficult to understand at times

~Introduction~

Microsoft’s Encarta interactive encyclopaedia series has been very popular since its release. There is a new version released every year in both the deluxe and standard formats. The updates include new information on events and discoveries that have been made, as well as changes to the functions, styling and database. The older versions are still very good and there is a lot of information that will have remained unchanged over the years.


The product itself provides an interactive and easy way to find information on a huge range of subjects and topics. It lists everything from historical events to sporting triumphs and geographical factors to famous people. The information is catalogued so that finding the relevant information is quick and very easy.


~Homepage~

The very first page that you come to when you open the Encarta programme, is a relatively plain and simple screen. There are a number of small images and text that reads: Microsoft Encarta Encyclopaedia 2000 set on a dark blue background. There are six options that you can click on from there; clicking ‘Find’ will bring up the search bar on the left of the screen. The only other function of real note is the ‘Article of the day’ which can be quite an interesting read.


~Product Tour~

There is an interactive product tour that you can view, if you feel that the product may be a little too demanding. There are twelve stages that each have a screen shot of the action performed and helpful text around the edge. There is a bloke doing the narrating and tells you how to carry out certain actions. The tour goes into detail on how to search for things and how to narrow the search fields to make sure you can find what you are looking for.


~Searching~

It couldn’t be easier to find information that you are looking for on a certain topic. The box on the top left hand side of the screen is the search area. If you type in one keyword or a short sentence/phrase, then it will come up with a list of the best matches. The list of matches will contain at least one of the words that you have typed in, but the most relevant search result is listed at the top. The box below, is a drop down menu that allows you to define the particular media or form that you want the results to be displayed in. Some of the options include: everything, maps and articles.


~Content~

The quality of the information contained within the encyclopaedia is quite sensational. The explanation of events, theories etc. is incredibly detailed and well written. They include all of the relevant details, using very good and articulate words from the English language. They do tend to write a lot, but much of the information is highly relevant to the topic and without that, it wouldn’t be half as good.


The only real complaint that I have regarding the content, is that some of the language and words used are very, very difficult to understand and comprehend. If there were school children or young university students using Encarta as one of their resources, I do think that they would struggle. I can remember many a long night, try to re-write bits and pieces of information in my own words so I could hand them in at school. It was very difficult and it often put me under a lot of stress.


~Information Display~

There are a number of different ways that the information in the encyclopaedia is displayed. They use a number of different forms of media, starting with just standard text and articles. There are very short videos which give a brief example of a relevant subject and help to back up what the text has said. The use of graphs and charts is a way of visually displaying figures to show trends and patterns. These make the information a lot clearer and it is often easier to read off of a graph. There are maps of locations and also plans which help to convey various pieces of data. There are also sounds and animations too, which are a vital part of many articles.


~Interactivities~

There is an Interactivities section, which I find very useful and pretty unique too. There are four different sections contained within it. The city climate area, allows you to compare major cities around the world, in terms of their climate which is very good indeed. The statistics centre, allows you to analyse all of the services, wealth and other things relating to the population of all of the countries in the world. For example, you can compare the population of four countries and the information will be displayed on a bar chart. There are two other sections that are interactive music and language areas which detail music and different languages from around the world. These resources are very handy and it’s likely that you won’t come across them anywhere else.


~Web Links~

There are often a number of website links on various articles and subjects that give you more in-depth and relevant information on particular areas. These are all hand selected by the people that make the software, so they should be very specific and helpful to what you are looking for. The links do become dead after a while though and not many of them work. I have found that the link listed first in the list is extremely helpful, but the further down you go in the list the information becomes less important. These links do add to whole experience and also to the amount of information available for you to use.


~Ease of Use~

This is an incredibly simple and very easy product to use. It is one that people of all ages will quickly be able to get the hang of and start to get the optimum levels of use from it. The guided tour is a vital resource for those who may struggle with the programme, but after watching it they should be well up to speed. The search methods are very simple and the results are clear and easy to interpret. I really think that the ease of use is one of the selling points and best parts of the whole programme. It is very impressive indeed.


~Conclusion~

I would certainly recommend Encarta to anybody, especially those who are still studying at some level. There are details on a huge range of subjects, with the data presented in a number of different forms, of which all are very helpful. The information can be a little overwhelming at times, but it is generally very in-depth and therefore extremely helpful. The 2000 edition is still very good and has a wealth of information within it. The only thing that will now be lacking, are details on events that have taken place between 2000 and the present day.


The product is second to no other that I can think of, apart from the World Wide Web. The information that you get on the Encarta Encyclopaedia, is however much more relevant and you know that you can find a good piece on any subject relatively quickly. It takes a while to find something entirely relevant when searching via Google or Yahoo. This is definitely worth buying if you can. There are copies of the software selling for less than £2 on EBay at the moment, so it is an absolute bargain.

Summary: