Description:
The numbers are impressive: 83,000 articles, more than 7,000 illustrations, 1,500 maps, and an hour of video and audio on your PC--ready to be searched whenever you need to lay your hands on a fact, figure, or some general information--is what you get with the Encyclopedia Britannica 2001 Deluxe. The two CD-ROM set contains all the text of the most recently printed version of Britannica, plus articles added year after year to bring it up to date. Over the past year, 5,500 new articles have been added. There are various ways to access all this information. Search by keyword or ask questions in plain English. (This works better at some times than at others.) Timelines provide access to key events in history across 14 subjects, including medicine, music, technology, literature, art, and women. Topic tours scrutinize particular subjects, ranging from cathedrals and the chair to glass and goddesses. If you are a student, you may particularly like the Research Assistant, which allows you to gather information from around Britannica in one place ready for use in essays and reports. If you have enough hard drive space, you can install the whole encyclopedia, which means no disc swapping. Other install options require you to use either one or both of the program CDs when searching Britannica. There are links into Britannica Online for access to top Web sites and up-to-the-minute information, and great facilities for browsers and searchers. Encyclopedia Britannica 2001 Deluxe is simply a topnotch reference tool. --Sandra Vogel
| 
