I like trivia and the idea of collecting a mass of knowledge fascinates me.

My book collection is outrageously large and I ran out of shelf space years ago so imagine my enthusiasm for an encyclopedia on a CD, especially as The Hutchinson Encyclopedia 2002 contains ten times more information than the printed version.

The trouble with encyclopedias and other reference works is that many are inadequately referenced - this one is not.

With 54,000 articles and 3,750 images, the enormous volume of information is managed extremely well and a quick search will usually throw up exactly what you are looking for.

With updated National Curriculum content in line with new Government policies, The Hutchinson Encyclopedia 2002 focuses strongly on Key Stages 3 and 4 of the National Curriculum.

It has been tested in UK classrooms and fully checked by teachers, educational advisers and school inspectors to ensure it is the perfect companion to GCSE studies.

Obviously, any encyclopedia needs to be updated regularly and Hutchinson has done a rather good job.

New biographies include Richard Branson and Saatchi while more than 600 new images have been added to the previous release.

The title includes an atlas of the world with plenty of up-to-the-minute state, historic and thematic maps.

There are major revisions to art, biology, English, history and maths content in line with Government educational policies and more than 7,000 web links from Aachen to Zoroastrianism.

I was particularly impressed with the online update service that has a special focus on UK information.

Available monthly, this will allow users to remain right up to date.

Price: £19.99
Contact: 01889 583571
Feel good factor: 9 out of 10