Encarta

Encarta, multimedia digital encyclopaedia produced by Microsoft Corporation (1993–2009). Initially a CD-ROM product, the Encarta brand later expanded to include an Internet-based incarnation and was bundled with other Microsoft products. The possibility of a digital encyclopaedia was first discussed at Microsoft in 1985. The company approached a range of reference publishers before signing a nonexclusive contract with Funk & Wagnalls to use their 29-volume New Encyclopedia in establishing a database in 1989. The project, however,...