A Library at Your Fingertips

Since 1993, Microsoft's Encarta has been a popular multimedia encyclopedia, with thousands of articles, photos, illustrations, and videos to help students tackle research projects. The 2002 version, the Encarta Reference Library, boasts an array of new features. Highlights include 3-D virtual tours in which historic landmarks, such as the Coliseum in Rome, are re-created in painstaking detail. Streaming media allows users to listen to live MSNBC news, weather, and radio broadcasts from around the world. "If you're researching Paris, for example, you can get radio stations and the top news stories in Paris to get more in-depth on the culture," notes Brand Manager Sally A. Katovsich. Users can also receive e-mail notification when updated articles become available, courtesy of another new feature, Update Encarta. FactFinder is a new pop-up feature that gives students access to things such as definitions and translations. Using the copy-to-hard-drive feature, the contents of the Encarta disks can be downloaded to a PC's hard drive. The Encarta Reference Library can be installed from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. List price for the Encarta Reference Library is $74.95. For more information, visit www.encarta.msn.com/products.