Description:
If you have a hard time thinking of an encyclopedia as radically cool, you haven't spent time with Encarta yet. Yes, there are things to nitpick, but the package overall, with its spectacular images and information, defines the genre. The 2000 edition boasts thousands of new articles, sidebars, photos, illustrations, and animations. The robust search engine is made even more useful by its ability to process the kind of queries normal people (as opposed to trained librarians) are likely to enter. On the vast majority of occasions, we received interesting and legitimate results to our freeform queries. There's a reason why Encarta is the bestseller that it is, and those that try it come away enriched by its knowledge base. The texts are strong and clear, and the advantages of digital organization and multimedia help make it an authoritative journey into cultures, histories, and natural worlds. --Jennifer Buckendorff
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