Encyclopedia Britannica 2002 Expanded Edition (DVD-ROM)

by Pearson Software

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005JGP9
• Item model number: 0852297858
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 24, 2001
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,499 in Software (See Top 100 in Software)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Famously large in size and comprehensiveness, Britannica is probably the world's most famous encyclopedia, in print since the mid-18th century. The 2002 DVD version is just as comprehensive, and includes all 32 volumes found in print, as well as a dictionary and world atlas. However, the DVD version has the advantage of fitting into a much smaller binding, and on just one disc.

The core of the software is as one would expect: Britannica's vast storehouse of knowledge and information, with entries on practically everything in existence. The articles and entries themselves are authoritative and interesting, each littered with hyperlinks to other related topics of interest, and include articles by people as renowned and diverse as Einstein, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Harry Houdini. Layered on top of this impressive core are related multimedia clips, both audio and visual, including panoramas and tours.

Britannica is designed like a Web site, with a home page that's always easily accessible. From this, three main ways of accessing this treasure house of information are offered--Search, A-Z Britannica, or Knowledge Navigator. These are housed within the same pop-up window with tabs at the top, so users can search once and click between all three of these search results. Britannica has also indexed thousands of quality Web sites that are returned as part of each search, which adds a whole new depth of exploration.

Britannica software also shines with regard to helping you organize your own research. You can take a note about a particular item, delegate your personal bookmarks, or collate and layout your collections in an attractive, publishable format.

In addition to the vast repository of knowledge, Britannica's software also includes the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition), a world atlas with statistics and facts, and, a particular favorite of this reviewer, a visually pleasing Timelines feature. Chart the developments in a particular area dating back to 100,000 B.C. You can display each development alongside the others if you wish, or display a single topic, from art to architecture to medicine.

This is fascinating software, is rendered well using Java, and, unlike other CD encyclopedia offerings, has more substance than style. Although a little bit difficult to navigate at first, it's both easy and pleasurable once understood. Researchers, quiz fans, students, or people who simply enjoy reading and learning will find this software a joy. --Alison Jardine

Amazon.com Product Description

Encyclopedia Britannica 2002 Expanded DVD Edition is an all-in-one resource featuring a comprehensive, highly visual encyclopedia, plus a dictionary and world atlas, all on one disc (no disc swapping!). Including animations, 360-degree panoramas, over seven hours of video, and 16,000 photos, this encyclopedia is designed to engage the senses and make your quest for knowledge a mind-expanding adventure of discovery. A comprehensive article collection is supplemented with an index that has over 613,000 internal hyperlinks and 300,000 Web links, all hand-edited by the Britannica editorial team. Combined with state-of-the-art search technology and new-and-improved results display, Britannica can give you what you need and lead you to discover what you never expected.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars CAVEAT EMPTOR: This program contains flaws., September 19, 2001

By 

Weeks (Little Rock, AR (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Encyclopedia Britannica 2002 Expanded Edition (DVD-ROM) (DVD-ROM)

I struggled with the decision of whether to buy Microsoft Encarta's Reference Library DVD 2002 or Encyclopedia Britannica's 2002 DVD. Unfortunately, I chose the latter.

Britannica claims to give you three installation options: "Compact," "Typical," and "Convenience." Convenience installation supposedly installs 2 Gigs of data on your hard drive, allowing you to run the encyclopedia from the hard drive without resorting to pulling info from the DVD. The problem? There is NO convenience installation. I tried installing the program many times using this option, and it never worked. I finally called Britannica's technical support, and they told me that there was no convenience installation. They just opted NOT to use it for the 2002 DVD version. ("Too many problems with installing such a large amount of data," I was told.) So why didn't they at least tell us this in either the installation process or the documentation included with the software??

Also, Britannica's technical support revealed to me that there were still bugs in this program. "Some of the files were misnamed," I was told. "With any new program, we have to rely on our customers to help us with feedback," the technician said. He assured me that software patches would be made available for download in a month or so, but why should I pay ... for a program and then WAIT for its makers to offer me a cleaner, bug-free version?

Another word of caution: searching for information with this program is difficult. Sure, there are thousands upon thousands of articles, but what good is that if the program makes it difficult for you to find them? Britannica claims to offer you 7+ hours of video and audio, but only 61 sound files are ever available to listen to! And they are all samples of musical instruments! Where are the speeches or the national anthems?? When I asked Britannica's technician about this, he only told me that "it depended on how I searched for files." That's not true. These files are just not installing. Visit the article on the United States, for example, and you'll find no sound clip of our national anthem. And yet, if you run Explorer and look into the MP3 folder on the DVD itself, you'll find the U.S. national anthem, along with various other countries' national anthems, none of which you'll find when running the Britannica Encyclopedia. Perhaps these are some of those "misnamed" files I was told about.

At least Britannica offers the buyer a 30-day money back guarantee. Believe me, I'll be taking advantage of this guarantee within the next few days. And I'll use my money to purchase Microsoft's Encarta.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as much information as you thought, October 16, 2001

By 

Rodrigo G. Acioli "acioli" (Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Encyclopedia Britannica 2002 Expanded Edition (DVD-ROM) (DVD-ROM)

Although Encyclopaedia Britannica ads says "Get the Entire Encyclopaedia Britannica right on your PC" and "it contains the complete text" etc.., this is not true. It was with great frustration that I realized that these were fallacious words. For instance, if you type "Emiliano Zapata" on Britannica's Website, you will read a brief description of Zapata's life along with his PHOTO and the "Encyclopędia Britannica Article" advice. But if you type "Emiliano Zapata" onto the DVD version you will only see the text with no photos. But didn't the advertise said that with the DVD you "GET the ENTIRE Encyclopedia ?" (sic). Am I stupid ? This article showed me that the DVD is not as complete as I was made to think. Probably other articles are missing... As a result, I lost confidence on this encyclopedia and I am considering only use it as a last resource on my studies (I currently own the Encarta Cd-Rom, Grolier Encyclopedia Cd-Rom, Compton's DVD rom and Hutchinson CD-Rom) and I might say that the Encarta interface (at least the 96 edition) is, by far, much more user friendly than Britannica's or everyone's else. The britannica's interface is confusing, separating the text from the multimidia files and showing the same article as more than one result on the same search. I was disapointed in buying this DVD.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't forget the content! Program not that bad., December 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Encyclopedia Britannica 2002 Expanded Edition (DVD-ROM) (DVD-ROM)

I run this program on a reasonably powerful computer (1.2 Athlon) with no problems but a slight delay booting up (perhaps this might translate into a freeze on a less powerful computer). Encarta might be more kid friendly, but don't forget the depth and quality of Britannica's content (after all it has been the premier reference for eons and it's all there on the DVD). I know style counts for something when it comes to the software interface, but don't forget the content, particularly if you're over 13!