#Encarta Data
2 messages in this thread
Jack,
PMJI, but I was interested in your comments about Encarta and Groliers.
I have both products and I guess maybe I will have to take another look in
comparing the two. I have never seen the Funk & Wagnells text encyclopedia
but do have an old Britanica. The multimedia sound and video is the whole
point of a CD-ROM; a purely test-based encyclopedia would be pointless to me
except as a search engine to aid in reading the text,book version. I find the
Multimedia parts of Encarta quite good considering the present state of the
art and cannot see how the Groliers text compares in anyway to the Britanica.
None of the 3 major CD-ROM encyclopedias come close to Britanica in
depth and detail of coverage, in my opinion. I guess it depends on what
you're looking for in an encyclopedia. For me I rely on it for an
introduction to subject areas which I can then pursue with more specialized
books. Of course, the major appeal as always is in homes where it will be
used by children so that the reading level of all 3 encyclopedias is probably
not beyond a Junior High level.
RonW
Well, I admit that I have a Brittanica in the house, but it's not on CD
ROM. Of the 3 that are now, the Groliers has more depth of information than the
other two in my opinion. Okay, so the F&W and Comptons are aimed at
middle/junior high and the Groliers at high school, but it's an improvement.
The object of a CD ROM encyclopedia to me isn't to hear and see clever
little things, it's to quickly find information without having to wrestle with
the two volume index and 30+ Brittanica volumes to find out something basic I
need. It's also easier to lift.