French-Language Version of Canadian Encyclopedia to go Digital
OTTAWA, December 18, 1997 -- Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps today reaffirmed her commitment to ensuring the development of French-language content for the information highway by announcing funding for a French-language adaptation of The Canadian and World Encyclopedia on CD-ROM.The Government of Canada will provide $665,000 to McClelland & Stewart Inc. to undertake the adaptation of the multimedia project. McClelland & Stewart holds the electronic rights to The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Minister Copps says the project "guarantees access to a French-language multimedia version of one of the most significant reference works on Canada and its peoples. As an educational resource the CD-ROM will be invaluable for schools and libraries and it will help Canadians learn more about their neighbours from all parts of the country."
In 1995, McClelland & Stewart released an updated and revised CD-ROM version of The Canadian Encyclopedia. The CD-ROM has been further updated in each of the past two years, and The Canadian and World Encyclopedia (as the CD-ROM is now called) is currently the number one selling educational software title in Canada. The French translation will be based on the English version with some adaptation work to include information of particular interest to the French-language audience. The project is expected to take two years to complete and will be released in 1999.
"The completion of this important multimedia project will serve as a fitting commemoration of the millennium by providing Canada and all Canadians with a lasting cultural resource as we move forward in the information age," said Minister Copps. "This public- and private-sector collaboration is a terrific illustration of the kind of effort needed to ensure that Canadian content finds its rightful place on the information highway."
Once the French adaptation is completed, both English and French versions will be merged on a single, bilingual CD-ROM. This means that The Canadian and World Encyclopedia a database - with entries from more than 4,000 scholars and writers - will be the most comprehensive source of information about Canada ever assembled.
Information:
Jacques Lefebvre
Senior Communications Advisor
Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage
(819) 997-7788
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