Big Blue Hits Big Time With New Learning Tool
A Review of World Book 1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia (Deluxe Edition)
Rich Cunningham
Homework, when I was going to school, was always a challenge. The major resource wehad to use was an encyclopedia. Very large, very heavy (literally), and quite a fewvolumes. And it always seemed to have a minimal amount of information that the teacherrequired; at least it seemed that way to me.
Over past years, as technology increased, more and more encyclopedias appeared on themarket, and had more information, color pictures, and maps. The increase in technologybenefited this in two ways; 1) it allowed more subject information to be collected, and 2)printing advances gave more variety to how the same subject could be approached. Theage of the computer, and the current multimedia boom; have again reshaped thisindispensable teaching tool. The program we look at today is a cutting edge example ofthat technology.
The program is called World Book 1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia. InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation, better known as IBM publish it. It is a two CD set of theindustry-standard World Book Encyclopedia, one that has been around for over 80 years(yes, I used it in grade school). Using multimedia technology, it is more than printedwords and static pictures on a screen. It is full-motion video, stereo sound, and livelyanimations, using virtual reality. The quality of the multimedia is limited only by thehardware of the system you are using it on.
There are a variety of ways to use the program. Yes, it is still possible to browsealphabetically and see what come up next. But there are a wide variety of searchcapabilities that put this reference tool heads above the other. By using a map, it ispossible to jump to any region or country in the world, and explore down to the city level,learning about the climate, economy, and population of that area. One can use the JustLooking function to look at photos, sorted by either category or by media type (sound,picture, video, etc.). From there it is only a click to the full article of the subject material.Time Frame allows the user to focus on a period of time, say the 1860's, and findinformation on that period of time, such as history, technology, and world affairs.Basically, navigating around this encyclopedia is very simple, and should not present aproblem to any school age child.
One of the features I especially like about the program is the way it interfaces seamlesslyto the Internet. With the purchase of this program, users receive quite a few on-linebenefits. These include 12 months access to World Book's proprietary web site, whichhas some interesting features. These include a Month in Review calendar, which tracksdates and notable historical events; Our Century, which explores the archives of WorldBook and features contemporary articles from a certain year, decade, or era; World BookSelected Web sites, special sites selected by the editors, and an Online Library, which hasnumerous topics to prod the thinking of the user. There is also a 30-day trial subscriptionto Cyber Patrol, an Internet program that allows monitoring of what sites are visited.Access to Infonautic's Electric Library, an online repository of over 1000 newspapers,magazines, and selected newswires, over 2000 works of art, and thousands ofphotographs. Updated material to the actual World Book Encyclopedia are available areavailable on line as well.
This is a well-written program. It installed and ran with no problems. There were noGPF's or sudden program terminations. The multimedia portions of the program, again,were excellent. The only down side I could find is not a program problem, but ahardware issue. The program comes on 2 CD's. Everytime I accessed a video file, I had toinsert Disc 2, and when the file was done, I had to reinsert Disc 1. There just is notenough room with current CD technology to store all the data and files together. This issomething that we will have to live with, until the DVD technology matures as a homeproduct.
Feel safe in buying this program. It is a top-flight resource for your children, no matterwhat level of school they are in. It has the backing of IBM, and includes all the qualitythat you have come to expect from that company.
School House Scorecard
| Product: |
World Book 1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia (Deluxe Edition) |
| Company: |
International Business Machines Corp.
|
| Cost: |
$79.95 |
System Requirements:
Windows 95 or Windows 3.1,
486SX-25 (or greater) IBM or 100% compatible PC,
8 MB RAM (minimum) 16 MB RAM (recommended),
10 MB free hard disk space,
SVGA, 256 colors, 800x600 resolution recommended,
16-bit sound card, Double Speed CD-ROM drive or greater,
Mouse.
On-line requirements:
8 MB additional hard drive space, modem, Internet connection.
This Reviewer Used:
Pentium 166 MMX, 64 MB RAM, Matrox Millenium 4 MB video,
Soundblaster 64, US Robotics X2 FaxModem, Panasonic SQ-TC510N CD-ROM.
Breakdown:
Ease of Use 4
Learning Value 5
Entertainment Value 4
Graphics 4
Sound 3
Overall Score:
Copyright © 1997 InfoMedia, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.