Out of Africa

By Anita Hamilton

When the delivery guys drop stacks of the latest CD-ROMs in my office each day, my first reaction is usually a groan. It's hard to get excited about the latest Barbie disc or Wheel of Fortune for the PC. But last week, after I checked out Encarta Africana, a two-disc, multimedia reference work by Microsoft on the history and culture of Africa and people of African descent, I wanted to kiss the FedEx guy. This remarkable new work blends old-fashioned scholarship and storytelling with color videos and stereo sound to bring its subject alive, starting with a video lecture by poet Maya Angelou, who notes that "it takes more than a horrifying transatlantic voyage chained in the filthy hold of a slave ship to erase someone's culture."

From the soothing chants of the South African national anthem to the thousands of articles on black leaders, thinkers, artists and athletes, Encarta Africana explores the richness and diversity of the peoples who originated in Africa. Its spirited and colorful approach draws you in, and back, like an addiction. Sit down for a quick get-acquainted session and you'll find yourself clicking for hours among articles, videos, maps, songs and lectures.

The first thing you'll notice is Encarta Africana's upbeat tone. While it faithfully charts tragedies such as the slave trade, race riots in the U.S. and genocide in Rwanda, it never sinks into despair. An essay on Haiti, for example, informs readers not only that the country is the poorest in the Americas but also that it became the world's first black republic when it gained its independence from the French in 1804.

Uncovering the discs' multimedia treasures is the most fun. Brief movies on historic sites in Africa tell of the medieval trading city Timbuktu (in what is now Mali) and the underground churches hewn from volcanic rock in Ethiopia's 12th century Christian empire Lalibela. Choice video clips, such as those of the Harlem Globetrotters' comic basketball team and singer Bessie Smith, reveal what words could only suggest.

Just when you think it's time to hunker down and read a few of Encarta Africana's 3,361 articles, you'll stumble across a series of video lectures that highlight the work's major themes. Music producer Quincy Jones and comedian Whoopi Goldberg discuss race and music; the volume's co-editors, Harvard professors Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Kwame Anthony Appiah, explain the struggle begun in 1909 by black scholar W.E.B. Du Bois to publish an encyclopedia that would chronicle black history.

Once you finally do get to the articles, it's easy to search for entries by keyword or browse by topic. I found myself going cross-eyed reading the lengthy essays on topics ranging from the history of Carnival to the brief life of American painter Jean-Michel Basquiat, but switching to the largest font option was a big help.

Groundbreaking as Encarta Africana may be, it falls short on two key points, starting with its price. Though Microsoft will donate copies to 8,000 schools, the rest of the nation's schools and families will be charged $70 ($50 with a rebate). Second, Encarta Africana is available only for the PC. Microsoft explains that "only" 40% of schools use Apple computers, but that's a poor excuse. A reference work this useful and exciting should be available to everyone--even those renegade Mac users.

For more on Encarta Africana, visit timedigital.com Questions for Anita? E-mail her at afhtime@aol.com