Microsoft to shutter encyclopedia Encarta

Microsoft Corp.’s digital encyclopedia, Encarta, might have pushed its printed competitors off the shelves in some homes. Now Encarta itself has fallen victim to changes in technology, made all but obsolete by the likes of Web search and Wikipedia.

Microsoft said it would shut down the online version of Encarta in October and would discontinue sales of the PC software by June.

Encarta was first sold to computer users as a CD-ROM-based encyclopedia in 1993. Critics questioned some of Microsoft’s editorial decisions, including the fact that Encarta’s dictionary had a photo of Bill Gates and not one of John F. Kennedy. But the electronic knowledge base was an early example of the advantages of digital content over the printed word. Encarta was quickly searchable and could pack more images.

Encarta gained a further edge over bound volumes in the early days of the Web because it could pull down updated content while its printed competitors’ articles grew stale.

But CD-ROM reference materials quickly turned to relics as high-speed Internet access spread, Web search improved and ventures like Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia compiled and updated by volunteers, gained credibility. Microsoft’s free and premium versions of Encarta suffered.

“People today seek and consume information in considerably different ways than in years past,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The company said customers with subscriptions to its premium Encarta service, which had cost $4.95 per month or $29.95 per year, will get a refund for fees paid beyond April 30.