Encarta

The idea of packing an entire encyclopedia on a single compact disc has a magical, gee-whiz ring to it. And if the number of entries in the field is any indication, reference books on disc may well become best sellers as multimedia computers become more widely available.Encarta, the newest CD-ROM encyclopedia, comes from Microsoft, the King Kong of software companies. Since Microsoft invented most of the multimedia tools that other software publishers use, many people hoped that Microsoft would be the first company to do it right.

In 1797, the Shaw of Persia received a set of Encyclopedia Britannica to celebrate his elevation. He read it in its entirety - it was shorter then - and in celebration of this accomplishment, he added "Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopedia Britannica" to his list of titles. I know this because I read it in Wikipedia. It was included in the entry about the Britannica, which had, of course, just been updated to reflect the fact that it would no longer be available in printed form after 244 years and would complete its migration to the Internet.

Encarta, Microsoft's multimedia encyclopedia, is now in its lTC fifth year - and the first year in which the offering spans two CD-ROMs. This inability to fit everything on one CD is one of the reasons why the industry will rapidly push consumers toward the higher capacity DVD drives and disks in the coming year, but that's another column.Microsoft continues to offer two versions of Encarta: Encarta 98 Encyclopedia (about $50 to $55) and Encarta 98 Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition ($75 to $80; Windows, Macintosh)

If FDR had had his way, World War II would have been known forevermore as the "War for Survival." Tough luck, Mr. Roosevelt. Not even the president has the power to decide what terminology people will adopt in everyday life. "World War II" won the popular vote in a slam dunk. And, in a flourish of linguistic retro-fitting, what had been the "Great War" thenceforth became known as World War I. So dictionary editors are keeping an ear close to the ground these days, tracking not only all the new military terms, but how regular people are using the language of the war in their day-to-day lives.

Linda Ellerbee, gadfly of TV journalism, is teaming up with Microsoft for a monthly interview "show" on the Internet."If this is the way journalism is headed, I don't want to be the last kid on the block to get there," Ms. Ellerbee said.The transcribed conversation of "Encarta on the Record" will be relayed to a World Wide Web site, as will a video image of her and a guest that will be updated every eight seconds.If users have the right equipment, they can hear the soundtrack, too.The web site is http://www.

We're in the thick of homework season. Kids are getting serious, whipping out those No. 2 pencils -- or turning on the computer -- to do projects, studying and real work. Here are some of the best ideas, products and resources for getting out from under that pile of work:* Organize your study area with two musts: a calendar and an assignment book. Keep a calendar by your child's homework area to keep track of projects and long-term assignments. (That science fair can sneak up on you.) Try mounting a reusable two-month or three-month wipe-off calendar.

You don't have to go far to find documentation on the decline of the printed encyclopedia. All you need is an Internet connection. And therein lies the problem. As the Net's popularity has risen, the public's interest in shelling out thousands of dollars for dozens of leather-bound reference books has dropped. But don't take our word for it: Check out the "Electronic encyclopaedias" entry at Britannica.com: "By the 1980s and '90s," the entry says, "the phenomenal growth of telecommunications networks and personal computer systems presented a new possibility to the publishing industry - the delivery of encyclopaedic databases through a medium other than the printed page ... "As computer technology continues to develop and is used with greater sophistication, there exists the further possibility that the electronic encyclopaedia will become less a version of the print set than a product in its own right, presenting the database in a manner best suited to exploit the advantages of the electronic medium.

If you think black history is just about slavery and Martin Luther King Jr., think again.Microsoft's Encarta Afri-cana puts the software giant's popular electronic encyclopedia format to outstanding use in a comprehensive, fascinating volume on Africa and people of African descent.It offers more than 3,000 articles and 2,000 photos, videos, maps and charts. Video clips include several 360-degree views, and there is a text-to-speech reader for the visually impaired.The two-CD volume was edited by Harvard University professors Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah.

A completely new dictionary is just out, the first major one published since the distinguished "Random House Dictionary of the English Language" in 1966. In these babblingly innovative times, a third of a century is a long, long time. Thousands of new words have grown from technological progress alone. Usage has scampered all over the place.The new arrival is "Encarta World English Dictionary." The book form, published and marketed in the United States by St. Martin's Press, is 2,078 pages long, weighs seven pounds and sells for $50. A computer version is being marketed by Microsoft in CD-ROM form for $39, minus a mail-in rebate of $20. It's also available as part of an enormous, six-disk package, "Encarta Reference Suite 2000," containing an impressive encyclopedia and an atlas and more, at $99.Making "Encarta" was managed by an entity called "The Reference Productivity Products Group of the Microsoft Corporation" -- hardly poetry, but then the corporate bosses there are nerds or wonks or both.

If FDR had had his way, World War II would have been known forevermore as the "War for Survival." Tough luck, Mr. Roosevelt. Not even the president has the power to decide what terminology people will adopt in everyday life. "World War II" won the popular vote in a slam dunk. And, in a flourish of linguistic retro-fitting, what had been the "Great War" thenceforth became known as World War I. So dictionary editors are keeping an ear close to the ground these days, tracking not only all the new military terms, but how regular people are using the language of the war in their day-to-day lives.

THE FIRST major dictionary of the 21st century is appropriately directed at the deteriorating writing skills of college students. The Microsoft Encarta College Dictionary, published last month by St. Martin's Press ($24.95), addresses today's students' problems with English grammar, usage, spelling and vocabulary. How bad is it? Ask any college professor who has to slog through student essays. That's what the editors of this new dictionary did: They consulted a panel of 80 authorities, including 32 English professors, mostly at public universities in 24 states and four Canadian provinces.

You don't have to go far to find documentation on the decline of the printed encyclopedia. All you need is an Internet connection. And therein lies the problem. As the Net's popularity has risen, the public's interest in shelling out thousands of dollars for dozens of leather-bound reference books has dropped. But don't take our word for it: Check out the "Electronic encyclopaedias" entry at Britannica.com: "By the 1980s and '90s," the entry says, "the phenomenal growth of telecommunications networks and personal computer systems presented a new possibility to the publishing industry - the delivery of encyclopaedic databases through a medium other than the printed page ... "As computer technology continues to develop and is used with greater sophistication, there exists the further possibility that the electronic encyclopaedia will become less a version of the print set than a product in its own right, presenting the database in a manner best suited to exploit the advantages of the electronic medium.

We're in the thick of homework season. Kids are getting serious, whipping out those No. 2 pencils -- or turning on the computer -- to do projects, studying and real work. Here are some of the best ideas, products and resources for getting out from under that pile of work:* Organize your study area with two musts: a calendar and an assignment book. Keep a calendar by your child's homework area to keep track of projects and long-term assignments. (That science fair can sneak up on you.) Try mounting a reusable two-month or three-month wipe-off calendar.

A completely new dictionary is just out, the first major one published since the distinguished "Random House Dictionary of the English Language" in 1966. In these babblingly innovative times, a third of a century is a long, long time. Thousands of new words have grown from technological progress alone. Usage has scampered all over the place.The new arrival is "Encarta World English Dictionary." The book form, published and marketed in the United States by St. Martin's Press, is 2,078 pages long, weighs seven pounds and sells for $50. A computer version is being marketed by Microsoft in CD-ROM form for $39, minus a mail-in rebate of $20. It's also available as part of an enormous, six-disk package, "Encarta Reference Suite 2000," containing an impressive encyclopedia and an atlas and more, at $99.Making "Encarta" was managed by an entity called "The Reference Productivity Products Group of the Microsoft Corporation" -- hardly poetry, but then the corporate bosses there are nerds or wonks or both.

I want to record from my tape player to my hard drive. After I plug my cassette player's line-out into the computer sound card's line, what do I do from there?If you want to save a minute or less of sound, you can use the sound recorder application built into Microsoft Windows. Call it up by going to the Windows Start button and then Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Sound Recorder.This nifty little recorder allows only a minute of sound because of the huge size required for the Windows WAVE (.wav)

If you think black history is just about slavery and Martin Luther King Jr., think again.Microsoft's Encarta Afri-cana puts the software giant's popular electronic encyclopedia format to outstanding use in a comprehensive, fascinating volume on Africa and people of African descent.It offers more than 3,000 articles and 2,000 photos, videos, maps and charts. Video clips include several 360-degree views, and there is a text-to-speech reader for the visually impaired.The two-CD volume was edited by Harvard University professors Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah.

I want to record from my tape player to my hard drive. After I plug my cassette player's line-out into the computer sound card's line, what do I do from there?If you want to save a minute or less of sound, you can use the sound recorder application built into Microsoft Windows. Call it up by going to the Windows Start button and then Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Sound Recorder.This nifty little recorder allows only a minute of sound because of the huge size required for the Windows WAVE (.wav)

In 1797, the Shaw of Persia received a set of Encyclopedia Britannica to celebrate his elevation. He read it in its entirety - it was shorter then - and in celebration of this accomplishment, he added "Most Formidable Lord and Master of the Encyclopedia Britannica" to his list of titles. I know this because I read it in Wikipedia. It was included in the entry about the Britannica, which had, of course, just been updated to reflect the fact that it would no longer be available in printed form after 244 years and would complete its migration to the Internet.

Encarta, Microsoft's multimedia encyclopedia, is now in its lTC fifth year - and the first year in which the offering spans two CD-ROMs. This inability to fit everything on one CD is one of the reasons why the industry will rapidly push consumers toward the higher capacity DVD drives and disks in the coming year, but that's another column.Microsoft continues to offer two versions of Encarta: Encarta 98 Encyclopedia (about $50 to $55) and Encarta 98 Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition ($75 to $80; Windows, Macintosh)

Linda Ellerbee, gadfly of TV journalism, is teaming up with Microsoft for a monthly interview "show" on the Internet."If this is the way journalism is headed, I don't want to be the last kid on the block to get there," Ms. Ellerbee said.The transcribed conversation of "Encarta on the Record" will be relayed to a World Wide Web site, as will a video image of her and a guest that will be updated every eight seconds.If users have the right equipment, they can hear the soundtrack, too.The web site is http://www.