Sign of the times: Microsoft Encarta soon to disappear?
From the Ars Technica blog, it seems Microsoft Encarta is about to go. It would seem changing attitudes towards traditional reference material are behind the decision. The likes of Wikipedia seem more relevant to more and more users now. When I first read the post, I was a bit surprised that Encarta was still in use as I haven't heard it mentioned for quite some time. It looks like it will cease to exist on October 31st (Halloween?) but as I write this post I must admit to wondering, like the Ars Technica blogger, whether this is some sort of April fools prank and whether I should be writing this at all. Anyway, there appears to be a FAQ on the whole thing here. While growing numbers of Web users recognise the value of Wikipedia and the like (and are starting to understand how to assess the credibility of their Web reference sources), from personal observations there still seems to be a long way to go in parts of our education system. On the weekend I was talking to three members of my family (two in K-12 and one in TAFE) about wikipedia. In school (the same school), my daughter is allowed to use Wikipedia and my son is not. In TAFE, my sister is banned from using it as a reference at all. The teacher just doesn't understand how it can be used in an effective manner. I guess there will be some people who will really be struggling with how traditional reference sites can be usurped by these (not so) new kids on the block. I am interested in what may happen to all the great content that is in Encarta when the services ends.
