Was this a way of managing the cost of such an all-encompassing project? The music time line also contained too few video clips can a child really understand Jimi Hendrix without video or sound? In fact, the video clips were generally limited to interviews, little-known movies, and public-domain footage. In over a century's worth of jazz, blues, rap, gospel, and vocals, only two women were pictured, and only one was identified within the captions (Bessie Smith was the unnamed figure, Lauryn Hill identified within the later years). The music time line, in particular, seemed an afterthought of sorts and somewhat unbalanced. The time lines are somewhat static and contain little information, even when you click through to expand a given date. Of course, not every element is equally successful.
"Find" delivers a list of results, including mentions of a subject in magazine articles and placements-when you're searching for a person-of that person in a video or photograph. You'll also want to rely heavily on the "Find" function, which is somewhat hidden in the upper left corner of every page. This will be time well spent in knowing the goals the creators had for this software, and in how best to negotiate its vast offerings. For example, Maya Angelou, on video with an image overlay behind her shoulder, poetically and rhythmically explains the meaning of the word diaspora.Īt the same time, the amount of information on these two CDs can be overwhelming, so we recommend clicking on the "Introduction" and "Tour This Product" options right after installation. Certain aspects shine particularly strongly the "Africana on Camera" section is one. The graphics are modern and inviting, and the inclusion of the Microsoft Research Organizer means that students can bookmark important areas to visit later (and cite them correctly).
MICROSOFT ENCARTA AFRICANA SOFTWARE
It's difficult to overstate how thorough and beautifully crafted this software is. have created is an enormously rich interactive journey into the last 500 years of African cultures, both in Africa and around the world.
What he and fellow scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. "This is more than a travelogue, more than a checklist of natural wonders," says Kwame Anthony Appiah in the introductory video to Microsoft Encarta Africana 2000. (Visit the Most Wished For in Encyclopedias & Dictionaries list for authoritative information on this product's current rank.) Review & Description