We had the recent opportunity to sit down and interview Gary Alt, Editorial Director of Microsoft Encarta Reference Library. Here is an excerpt:

ActiveWin.com: How thoroughly are the articles in Encarta checked for errors, outdated information, etc.?

Gary Alt: We pride ourselves on having the best editorial operation in the business. All of our major articles are written by experts and then carefully edited to ensure that they are readable and appropriate for our target audience. A routine part of our editing process is to check the facts thoroughly against reliable sources. We are a reference product, and accuracy is our primary objective.

Keeping Encarta content up to date is a major part of our job as editors. The Encarta editors each have responsibility for a particular area of knowledge. So, for example, we have one editor who is responsible for Encarta’s coverage of the Life Sciences; another who looks out for the Physical Sciences; and another who monitors developments in Popular Culture. These editors regularly check the news and review specialty journals to keep abreast of developments in their subject area. They also tap into our network of thousands of experts who have contributed articles to Encarta. Thanks to their efforts, we are able to keep Encarta current and highly relevant. I’ve already discussed our weekly Update feature, so you as might well imagine, currency updating is a major part of the editors’ job.