The 1999 Canadian Encyclopedia World Edition

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

The 1999 Canadian Encyclopedia World Edition is an expanded version of
The 1999 Canadian Encyclopedia Student Edition. (McClelland & Stewart
also produces The 1999 Canadian Encyclopedia Deluxe Edition.) The World
edition includes two CD-ROMs: an encyclopedia disk and a “Lives and
Times of the Prime Ministers” disk.

The encyclopedia contains 52,000 articles—40,000 from the
American-based Columbia Encyclopedia, 5th edition, and 12,000 by
Canadian writers. The Canadian content is exceptional. Users will find
information here that is impossible to find elsewhere. The Columbia
segments, unfortunately, possess an unmistakable American bias. For
example, the entry for the African country of Gambia starts with the
arrival of the Portuguese explorers in the 15th century, though
archeological evidence shows that Africans have inhabited the area since
prehistoric times. The entry for Miami Beach, as another example, is
twice as long as the entry for Mexico. Fortunately, in the table of
contents, the Canadian segments are marked with a maple leaf and the
Columbia with a globe icon.

The World edition includes the revised Gage Canadian Dictionary
(140,000 words defined), an enhanced Roget’s Thesaurus (500,000
synonyms), and a French/English and English/French dictionary with over
90,000 references and 120,000 translations. These features are easily
accessed through the main screen menu. The encyclopedia also includes a
“Canadian Quiz” function (this can be quite humbling for those who
do not know their explorer’s astrolabe from their Elbow, Saskatchewan,
or the length of the Canada–U.S. border in kilometres). For those who
are connected to the Internet, there are more than 2500 embedded
Internet links and a Canucklehead Web site that allow users an
opportunity to match their quiz skills live against other players.

“The Lives and Times of the Prime Ministers” CD-ROM contains
historical profiles, photographs, sound and film clips, and features a
separate section that broadly describes the era in which each prime
minister served.

All in all, The 1999 Canadian Encyclopedia World Edition offers
outstanding value for those who need a quick source of reliable
information about Canada and the rest of the world. With 7600 multimedia
links—including 150 movies, 1100 maps, and 5000 photos—the set will
provide hours of browsing entertainment for anyone old enough to operate
a computer.