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"We think an effective way in which you can use an encyclopedia is as a gateway to the internet."

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DQI Bureau
New Update

In 1994, Microsoft

bought the rights to adapt a certain US encyclopedia with the vision

of creating a role model for encyclopedias of tomorrow. Today, Encarta,

Microsoft's multimedia encyclopedia meant for learning institutions

like schools, colleges and the home is available in numerous country

editions including an Indian one. The World English Edition has

sold 200,000 copies and a key aspect of its global acceptance has

been the realization by Microsoft for the need of localization.

Today, a team of 40 in-house editors based in England and numerous

consultants, mull over the ten million words present in the current

edition and ponder country specific enhancements.



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A key individual

working behind the scene since 1994 has been Latha Menon, Executive

Editor of the global team responsible for the World English edition.

Latha has been responsible for the overall direction and development

of Encarta and commissioning of external contributors and consultants

to work on the project. Previously, Latha was the Senior Editor

of science and technology at Oxford University Press and a member

of the National Council of Educational Technology, UK. Latha, graduated

from Somerville College, Oxford and lives there.



How would

you describe a multimedia encyclopedia?




I do not think quoting numbers of words is appropriate. I think
you have to consider issues. First of all what are you trying to

achieve through an encyclopedia? I can tell you in the case of Encarta

our purpose is not to produce something that contains a hundred

thousand words, which are written by experts for other experts.

In some of the older and traditional encyclopedias this was something

you could see.




We believe that

encyclopedias should be an introduction to the lay person. But on

the other hand we are not going for the superficial-the equivalent

of the one volume encyclopedia, where you have a quick reference

and a few lines on any particular topic. What we are trying to find

is a balance. When it is a complex subject you want to point out,

this is not simple and there are many levels to understand and so

on. That means you may have an article of 1000, 5000, 10,000 and

15,000 words-and that feels about right for certain subjects.



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And then we

would want to direct them to other materials-we direct people outward

by carefully selected web links. We have over 5000 web links in

Encarta and this is interesting because you may find some reference

works quoting hundreds of thousands of links, which is very easy

to do. But we have deliberately chosen not to do so, because we

think one of the effective ways in which you can use an encyclopedia

is as a structured gateway to the internet. With the internet being

essentially a mess of good and bad stuff, I think it would important

and useful for people to be led through the knowledge structure

of an encyclopedia.

What is the

significance of monitoring the web links in Encarta?




We have a couple of people who focus entirely on the internet and
they have a series of criteria that a particular web site has to

fit into before it is linked. It has to be authoritative, reliable

and safe-because of pornography and so on. We want to make sure

that we are directing people to sites that we regard as helping

content development. In addition, there is a short introduction

to each site and the value of that one line is that it enables us

to say where the site is coming from.

Is Encarta

based on any particular print encyclopedia?




Yes. Originally, it was based on an encyclopedia called Funk &
Wagnall's--a respected US encyclopedia of 29 volumes. Microsoft

bought the rights to the text in 1994 and then overhauled it to

create the first World English Edition in 1995. Since then some

2 million words have been added.

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What is the

process of localization?




I think it is important to realize that for some years now Microsoft
has been developing local versions of the Encyclopedia. In 1993,

there was an American version of the encyclopedia typical of many

encyclopedias that have been developed in the States. It had more

content on American issues than on other parts of the world. Initially

there was a lot of interest in the UK, the next country that had

a lot of PCs, in the encyclopedia because young people loved the

multi media content. But it was quickly recognized that the content

was America focused.




Increasingly

in the UK and other parts of the world people are not happy by material

that is essentially dominated by American content. So with that

in mind, five or six years back, Microsoft asked a British publisher

called Adrian Webster to create a team. He is an independent British

publisher with considerable experience in reference and in particular

in adaptation of reference works. So he was an ideal person to set

up this team and that is how a number of us joined.



We were given

seven million words within structures, categories and sub-categories

and so on, and asked to do whatever was necessary to make it reflect

the expectations of the commonwealth audience. UK is obviously the

key market but places like Australia, India and South Africa are

getting considerable importance. We set up a network of consultants

and contributors and every section was reviewed about how we should

refocus the content.

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What are

the changes made in Encarta with country localization? Are we talking

about complete country specific encyclopedias, with local language

interfaces, in the near future?




There are certain historical ties amongst the commonwealth countries
and that means there is a certain style and approach that all these

countries would like to see in an encyclopedia. What we really want

is not something that is so tailored to local information that you

are not giving the rest of the world any importance. In a country

like India, it is important to have access to knowledge and images

of other parts of the world, particularly for many children who

may not be able to get out and see some of these things. I think

the whole perspective is very important. What we are trying to do

is balance local sensitivity and what we have done for India is

add more content specifically of Indian interest than you would

normally see in a general encyclopedia.

Is there

a common repository for all the country editions?




A year after we started, Microsoft started a French addition and
an Italian addition. Now they have got a whole range including Brazil

and Spain. So it is an Encarta world family. We all use the same

database, which is highly complex with so many thousands of images

and we can all look at each other's content. As an example, we have

chosen a video from the French version, which we thought was rather

good, likewise the American team might say we would like to look

at this article and maybe adapt it to our edition. So that is the

kind of sharing and discussion that takes place.

How do you

compare the learning from instructor and class-room education with

CDROM based education?




There has been quite a bit of research on learning with CDROM for
example in places like the Open University. I think you will find

that many people who did not grow up with computers initially find

it difficult to read text on the screen. I think for a start that

is beginning to change because young people are much more used to

reading text on screen. But one thing that has come out of this

research is that people learn by a range of methods. The written

word is particularly subtle, versatile and very little can compare

with it. For long we have relied on that and maybe the odd image

and diagram. But the great thing about multimedia is that it taps

into other ways of learning, which maybe appropriate for some people

and for some topics.




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Take for example

the treatment of sound in Encarta and in the start you have an incredible





selection of music. So when you are reading about Beethoven or Karnatic
music you can hear a clip of their music. There are also other ways

in which sound is used, such as historic speeches-to actually hear

the voice of Lenin or the voice of Gandhi. Especially for the new

generation, I think it is fascinating. Another aspect is the 360-degree

view. You can read about Prague but to stand in the middle of the

Town Square and look around you, that immediately enhances it.

How are computers

and computing being integrated in school curriculum in the west?




First, teachers are feeling threatened when there is absolutely
no need for them to feel threatened. There are also concerns about

how the computer would be used within the classroom. Originally,

the way that computing came into the curriculum-you went there and

you did something that felt unnatural, a new kind of language whether

it was BASIC or another. Then you went away and did all your other

learning. It was artificial and separate.



Now the whole feel everywhere is to make use of computers as a natural
part of the whole curriculum. It is another tools along with pencil

and paper and everything else. Of course, even in many schools in

the west it leaves a wide variation in the nature of resources.

Some schools may be very well equipped, others may just have a few

PCs. But I do not think that it should stop people using them effectively.

Another approach has been to introduce IT much more into teacher

training so that the new generation teachers are going to be more

comfortable.

Is Encarta

supposed to be a role model for Microsoft multimedia technologies?




I think it represents the leading edge. The level of innovation
and creativity is what makes it so exciting to work on this product.

We work closely with the Microsoft team at the Reference Division

at Redmond.

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Other than

bandwidth are there are any other technological limitations inhibiting

online education?




At this stage, it is not just technology issues. It is about developing
structures within that. It is almost like publishing structures,

if you like. As you can see the internet has a lot of content but

how do you access that in an effective and meaningful way. That

is where publishing and editorial approaches are going to apply,

where somebody has gone and selected a series of sites within a

learning structure.

Is this equivalent

to building a learning portal?




In effect, it is a portal approach but it may be more than that.
It maybe portal plus content-but what you need are structures to

move forward. Without structures, you have anarchy and you do not

get any learning. The structured gateway approach or portal is typically

a way of constructing order. But you have got to have structures

that are enabling not constraining. That is the challenge-to not

build structures that trap you into a particular and limited vision.

For those of us who are working in education technology, it is a

tremendous challenge to create such structures. I think in future

you are going to see a range of alternative structures for different

purposes like education and training.




There is one

other kind of technological development that is beginning to impact

learning environments and that is increasing portability. This means

that students can use laptops to maintain continuity between home

and school or college. Combined with improving screen technology,

the ebook is a more viable mass-use product of the near future.

Arun

Shankar




in New Delhi



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