Use the built-in encyclopedia in Microsoft Word 2007
In addition to a dictionary, spell-checker, and thesaurus, Microsoft Word 2007 includes access to an encyclopedia from within Word's main window itself. Note that access to the Encarta and other encyclopedias requires access to an active internet connection. This tutorial will show you how to leverage Word 2007's built-in encyclopedias for your research.
Research work with encyclopedias in Word 2007
To access the built-in research resources and encyclopedias in Microsoft Word 2007, click on the Review tab of the Ribbon. Now click on the Research button to open and display the Research pane along the right edge of Word's main window.
Type the word or proper noun you wish to research in the Search for text field, but don't quite launch the topic search yet. Click on the dropdown menu below, and choose "All Research Sites" - this instructs Word 2007 to include all the encyclopedias and other built-in research tools for your search:
Evaluate research results from within Word 2007
Now click the green button above to launch your topic search: Word 2007 will list all the results it found in a scrollable list. To restrict your research to a single tool or encyclopedia, simply select the research tool you want in the dropdown menu, and re-launch the search.
The summary of the topic is displayed at the top of your search results, and links are included for more detailed information: these link to web pages will open outside Microsoft Word, and launch in your default web browser.
Notice that at the end of the main article's links, Word 2007 displays a list Related items: these are also clickable links that will too open in a separate browser window. (You can copy any research topic you found relevant and then paste it back into your Word document.)