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We have been
thrilled with the Encarta Encyclopedia for years, and with
the 2005 edition, bowled over. Now including a new feature,
Encarta Kids, this Reference Library is dazzling, useful,
and engaging for all members of the family.
With Microsoft Encarta
Reference Library Premium 2005, parents
can feel confident that their children and teens are finding
relevant, authoritative information for their projects and general
knowledge. And, parents can of course rely on the suite as well!
New to 2005 is an innovative feature: Encarta Kids.
Encarta Kids is new content designed from the ground up with the
specific needs of a younger audience in mind, including children
as young as seven! Bolder, larger text, easier-to-read articles,
and relevant elementary-age content makes this feature both
inviting and educationally useful for children ages 7 to 12.
Encarta Kids runs as a separate application, but if there are no
search results in the program, a link is offered to search in
Encarta Reference Library. In addition to this new feature for children,
the latest edition of Encarta includes a new Encarta Search Bar.
By right-clicking on the time in the System Tray, and
selecting the search bar from the Toolbar, users can begin a
search at any time. New online Homework Helpers allow users with an Internet
connection to get up-to-date help with, for example, math homework.
As
well, the features that made previous editions outstanding are all
here as well, such as the Discovery Channel videos (with topics
like Bird Evolution and Life on Mars?), Dictionary and
Thesaurus (including translation dictionaries), interactive games (including a geography challenge
pictured at left), Homework Center, outstanding
interactive Atlas, and more. The
CD-ROM edition includes 5 CDs. If you have the space, the
program can be installed to your hard drive for easy access.
It requires almost two and half gigs. The DVD-ROM edition, of course, is easier to use because it
is contained on only one disc. This
suite truly makes a wonderful research
"companion". Articles contain encyclopedia
information, of course, as well as extras like a "web
center" box with links to Encarta editors' hand-picked
online links. A search for a particular city will offer
regional news, current temperatures, dynamic atlas, and so
forth.
One
of the features of the Encarta Encyclopedia series that
makes it stand out from the rest is its vibrant, current,
and contemporary content. Free content updates are
available until October 2005 (a sign-up process is
involved), after which users must be a paying member of Club
Encarta.
Beautiful to look at, filled
with multimedia and helpful content, and easy to use, this
reference library will help make any family's research efforts easier. The search feature is
fabulous, with content from all titles in the suite seamlessly
integrated together. Streaming live media and easy content updates
(they're automatic) contribute to an exceptional product that
feels alive and fresh.
Searching in
Encarta is easy. One search pulls up articles, maps,
multimedia content, and more. In fact, as you type in your
keyword, lists of results begin to appear and adjust as you
keep typing. This is very handy for times when you don't
know the complete spelling of a word. Alternate spellings
also pop up for extra help.
When students stumble upon a word
in an article that they don't understand, they need only
double-click on it and a dictionary entry pops up. Doing research
for a school project is especially easy with this suite. Children
can select any text and images from Encarta contents or the
Internet, click "Add to Researcher", and the information
is cataloged and stored. Researcher allows users to organize and
edit the information they've collected ("note cards" can
be clicked and dragged for easy organizing), and then export their
work to a Word document. Citations are automatic with this handy
tool. The suite's World Atlas is
superior to those found in other leading electronic reference
suites. The atlas is dynamic and original. Users can easily customize their view of the world with
map styles and customizer tools. Many
children (and adults!) equate encyclopedias with
"boring", simply because of the dry,
"encyclopedic" presentations. Not so with
Encarta. The presentation is slick and modern, and the
multimedia content is strong.
The program is available on CD-ROM as
well as DVD-ROM (the DVD-ROM edition includes extra videos).
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