"I think that it's a good first step, but it certainly isn't a fulfillment of DuBois'

dream," said Winbush, who was critical ofMicrosoft's mainstream market approach. "DuBoiswanted Encyclopedia Africana to define the worldfrom an African perspective. I think from anAfrican point of view, it has to be moreaggressive in discussion of Europeancolonization."

Winbush said he would have liked to see abroader array of contributors and articles. He wasparticularly critical of the omission of MolefiAsante, the director of Black Studies at TempleUniversity.

"To write a history of Africa without includingMolefi Asante is like writing a history of moderncomputing without including Bill Gates," he said."You can probably do it, but the credibility ofthe enterprise would be highly questionable."

Much of the research for the project was donein Widener Library. Several Harvard alums andgraduate students were researchers for theproject, which cost $2 million to research.

Gates said he was grateful to his departmentand the University for supporting the project.

"Without the support of the entire faculty ofAfro--American studies and the board of advisorsof the DuBois Institute, we never could have doneit," Gates said