Look It Up
The latest reference software
By Russell Smith
Old encyclopedias on the shelf are looking even older these
days, compared to the new CD and DVD versions of reference software
and the impressive growth of Internet subscription databases.
Plummeting prices make the older CD-ROMs attractive, and even
the new DVD versions are priced quite reasonably. But the real
growth is in online subscriptions to encyclopedia and reference
databases.
Online subscriptions seem to be increasing exponentially, now
that there are so many multimedia computers online across America.
And the web resources, unlike paper volumes sitting on a library
shelf, can be updated quickly. It's been estimated that 100,000
web pages are being created every hour.
Online subscriptions make sense for schools that have increased
Internet bandwidth with T1 access lines that allow faster and
more reliable connection to the web. And subscriptions offer the
substantial advantage of allowing schools to access properly licensed
information online without relying on disks, which can be bootlegged,
damaged, lost, or stolen.
But there are still quite a few advantages to using CD-ROM disks.
They can be played on machines without Internet access and can
be shared easily among teachers and classrooms. Compared to today's
Internet, the disks also offer much faster performance of video
and graphics. DVD versions, especially, have the potential for
multimedia content that won't be available on the Internet for
several years.
If you're in a buying mood, here's the best of what the top
six reference software companies are offering:
Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc.
(800) 747-8503.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, the first company to put a multimedia
encyclopedia on CD-ROM back in 1989, offers 73,646 articles and
more than 1.5 million hyperlinks in Britannica
CD 99 Multimedia Edition. The program integrates the excellent
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and a Spotlights
feature, which offers in-depth, interactive multimedia tours of
such topics as dinosaurs, ecosystems, and the Olympics. Britannica
maintains its legendary reputation with literary contributions
from leading experts, including many Nobel Prize winners.
The $119 Windows edition has two CDs, and Mac users can buy
the one-disk Standard Edition for $59. Installation is very easy
and requires 23 megabytes (MB) for a minimal installation and
a hefty 143 MB for a full installation (6,423 files in 1,151 folders
on your hard drive). I found the menu interface very easy to use
with excellent user buttons and online help.
Britannica
Online, introduced in 1994, was the first encyclopedia
on the Internet. For $5 a month or $50 a year, you get all of
the articles in the print encyclopedia, as well as 12,000 graphics
and a full-featured dictionary.
Like several of its competitors, Britannica Online has an excellent
natural language search feature. (I did a simple search on "dogs,"
for instance, and Britannica suggested eight web sites, one of
which had an article I'd written in 1994 on the
history of Pomeranians.)
Britannica Online also boasts an impressive biography section
with more than 23,000 biographies, complete with related Internet
links. It also has a neat section in which you can type in any
date of the year and find out what famous people were born on
that date. (I discovered Greta Garbo shared my Sept. 18 birthday.)
Compton's Encyclopedia
The Learning Company.
(800) 852-2255.
More than 40,000 articles and 5,000 photos and video clips are
included in the two CDs of Compton's
Encyclopedia 1999 Deluxe ($39.95). Installation is straightforward
and requires about 11 MB for a minimum installation and 41 MB
for a full installation.
A narrated tour provides a nice introduction to the features
of the program, which includes a nifty timeline with search features
and an excellent atlas with scalable maps. The dictionary is not
as good as Britannica's, but it's easy to navigate.
An Internet menu button offers several options, including one
called F.N.R. (Find Neighborhood Resources) which is powered by
Zip2 -- an online service that
lists everything from car dealerships to movie theaters. F.N.R.
lets you insert a zip code and query the Internet database about
the location of resources like zoos, museums, and colleges. It
located the educational facility where I work in Abilene, Texas,
along with some local museums. Alas, it's not perfect: Its street
directions to my workplace were wrong, and it missed mentioning
the Abilene Zoo.
Another Compton's service -- Ask the Librarian -- allows you
to ask a reference question online and get an answer within two
business days. And buying Compton's CD entitles you to a free
30-day trial of Infonautics' Electric Library, with its thousands
of full-text newspapers and magazines, works of art and literature,
national and international newswires, extensive photo archive,
and daily updates via satellite.
Compton's
Encyclopedia Online's Annual Building Site License allows
anyone in the school building access to the articles and graphics
in the online encyclopedia for a 12-month period. A Curriculum
Integration Guide contains lessons to help students learn to search
the encyclopedia, define research topics, and evaluate resources.
At $499, the price of the online service might be too high for
some small schools, but those who can afford it will appreciate
having the material legally without viruses or disks that can
be scratched.
Encarta
Microsoft Corp. (800)
426-9400.
Encarta
Encyclopedia Deluxe 99 contains 40,000 articles and more
than 20 million words. More than 8,000 articles are entirely new,
and 2,000 have been completely revised. The 99 version has a lot
more media, including 16,000 videos, pictures, illustrations,
audio clips, and animations.
One of the best features in Encarta is Schoolhouse, a large
collection of classroom lessons, many submitted by teachers around
the globe. Arranged in nine subject areas, this grade-sorted collection
will add some master lessons to any teacher's toolkit. There are
400-plus lessons on the software disks and many more on the web
site.
Encarta 99 has an excellent speech engine and a clearly understandable
robotic female voice that takes text-to-speech technology to new
levels, enabling a PC to read selected text or entire articles
out loud -- a nice feature for students who need reading assistance.
A new speech-recognition module allows users with microphones
to activate a limited number of menu commands by voice. To be
honest, this technology is not quite ready for prime time, but
it's getting better -- and it's proof that total-voice recognition
machines are on the horizon.
Encarta requires about 28 MB of hard drive space for the basic
installation. If you throw in the voice and speech modules, you'll
need another 70 MB. The Windows version costs $45.95 after rebate
(valid through Sept. 30). The Mac version costs $59.95 with no
rebate.
An even better deal is the Encarta
Reference Suite, which, at $69.95 after rebate, gives
you the Deluxe Encyclopedia CDs as well as two additional CDs:
Bookshelf 99 and Virtual Globe. Virtual Globe is only a fair atlas,
but Bookshelf is a great tool for students and teachers, providing
access to nine reference books, including the American Heritage
Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, and Columbia Dictionary
of Quotations. Bookshelf also has condensed versions of Encarta
99 World Atlas and Encarta Encyclopedia.
If you're one of the lucky folks with a DVD drive, then by all
means skip the Encarta CD versions and get Encarta
DVD-ROM Reference Suite 99 ($69.95 after rebate), which
puts the contents of all five CDs on one DVD disk. This DVD version
boasts 35 percent more videos, 120 percent more 360-degree views,
and high-resolution, full-screen video playback supported with
DVD video.
The DVD played beautifully on a Creative Labs 5X DVD drive,
but I couldn't play video clips full screen or to my TV because
Microsoft's new Direct Show technology wasn't compatible. (Apparently
Bill Gates and his buddies failed to collaborate with the largest
vendors in the DVD industry.) But I've been assured that new drivers
eliminating this problem will be available by the time you read
this article.
Encarta
Online Deluxe is an Internet database that contains, complete
and unabridged, the more than 40,000 articles that appear in the
Encarta Encyclopedia Deluxe CD-ROM. If you buy Encarta Encyclopedia
Deluxe 99 or Encarta Reference Suite 99, you'll get free access
to Encarta Online Deluxe through Dec. 31, 1999. Without the CDs,
there is a $49.95 yearly fee to access the online service.
One neat feature of Encarta Online is Encarta Challenge, an
online Jeopardy-type quiz game with educational categories and
questions. Another winning idea: more than 13,000 web links selected
by Encarta's editors.
Encarta also offers Encarta
Online Library, with a staggering database of more than
1 million articles from over 800 publications. This service costs
$9.95 per subscriber per month, or $59.95 for a full year. Or
you can buy single articles at $1 a pop. A subject guide of more
than 40,000 interrelated terms gives serious researchers a running
start.
A new reference CD called Encarta
Africana contains more than 5,000 articles and graphics
focusing on people of African descent throughout the world. Edited
by Harvard professors Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Kwame Anthony
Appiah, Encarta Africana includes virtual tours and such film
clips as Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech and
Nelson Mandela's release from prison in South Africa. This work
might well be the definitive reference tool for students and educators
seeking information on African history and culture.
Funk & Wagnalls
Versaware Technologies Inc.
(212) 727-8577.
One of the lowest-priced multimedia encyclopedias at $19.95,
Funk &
Wagnalls Multimedia Encyclopedia delivers a lot of rich
content on a single CD. Its more than 10,000 media elements include
hundreds of video clips, maps, full-screen 3-D animations, audio
and classical music recordings, famous speeches, national anthems,
and sounds of nature. Installation requires 64 MB on the hard
drive.
A text-to-speech module reads articles, but the robotic voice
is not as crisp as the Encarta reader. I also noticed a scratchy
sound in the narrated Guided Tour in both the CD and the DVD versions.
I couldn't blame the brand-new Creative Labs PCI sound card I
was using because it played all other sounds perfectly.
The 20th Century Biographical Dictionary is nice, but the difference
between F&W and more comprehensive encyclopedias shows up
in what you don't see. There was no photo of astronaut
Sally Ride, for instance.
Funk &
Wagnalls Multimedia Encyclopedia on DVD-ROM ($49.95) will
wow you with full-screen, fast-loading video clips, which you
can see on your TV with appropriate cables. The awesome Digital
Dolby sound is a step above anything we've ever heard from computers
before. An 18-minute DVD video clip on space technology is quite
interesting, but it's really just a teaser of what we can expect
from DVD disks in the future. With 27,000 articles and 13,000
photos, this disk is worth buying, just to show students and teachers
the potential of DVD technology.
Funk & Wagnalls
Online Multimedia Encyclopedia is a true bargain. It's
completely free; you don't even have to buy the CD or DVD to use
the service. Apparently Versaware wants to encourage visitors
to its web site, where the company sells inexpensive digital book
downloads. I think Versaware sees the potential for future textbook
access by students in classrooms and wants to get in on the ground
floor.
At the same web site, you'll find free access to the Random
House Webster's College Dictionary and hourly updates from
Reuters news service. With Power Search, you can search references
separately, or all at the same time. The more than 25,000 articles
and thousands of state-of-the-art multimedia animations, photos,
speeches, maps, music, and sound make the site a nice place to
visit any time.
World Book
World Book Inc. (800)
255-1750.
The 1999
World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia has rich content and
a clean-cut interface that's far easier to use than the rest of
the competition. A new component called the San Diego Zoo Cyber
Safari uses interactive QuickTime virtual reality panoramas to
view rare jungle animals. Unfortunately, Cyber Safari is not available
on the Mac version.
Teachers will love the World Book Tool Kit, with its five Homework
Wizards. My favorite is Quiz Wizard, which allows the teacher
to make fast, computerized tests. I also like the highlighting
tool, which lets you mark passages for easier reading.
The two disk-set costs $39.95 after rebate. Installation is
quick and easy, requiring 33 MB. If you want a desktop shortcut,
you have to create one manually.
World
Book Family Reference Suite is a three-disk set that incorporates
the encyclopedia and IBM's award-winning ViaVoice Gold continuous
speech-recognition technology. It works better than Encarta's
voice commands, but it's not quite ready for most users to master
easily. Additional bonus: three Information Please Almanacs
and Merriam-Webster's Reference Library. The suite retails for
$99.95.
World
Book Discoveries DVD is a multimedia world history reference
that holds the equivalent of five CD-ROM disks on a single DVD
disk. It contains 5,400 images, seven hours of sound, and 900
animations. Students will find lots of information and ideas for
reports, research papers, and homework. The format of the disk
allows you to travel the world chronologically, geographically,
or thematically. Among the themes are The Renaissance, The Age
of Reason, The World at War, The Nuclear Age, and Toward the Millennium.
The DVD surround-sound and full-screen multimedia images will
captivate students of all ages. Retail price is $49.95.
World Book Online is a closely guarded secret; you have
to contact local World Book school and library representatives
to find out about the company's free 30-day trial. I couldn't
find any online details on pricing, how to join, or how to sample
the online database. Surely World Book officials should make these
details a little more open to the public if they expect to have
a viable online product.
Once I got past the gatekeepers -- and past a password scheme
that is overblown for security purposes -- I found a fairly nice
online database with lots of articles (31,000 in the encyclopedia
and an additional 25,000 from periodicals). The comprehensive
map graphics are quite nice, but the program lacks some of the
better graphic features of competitors.
The Real Player plug-in required for the World Book video animations
didn't work correctly on my system. This might have been my fault,
but my failure underscores the compatibility problems encountered
by all users with assorted add-ons for their browsers.
This isn't just a problem for World Book, of course. Without
clear industry standards for web video and audio players, confusion
will continue on the web -- and it will be difficult for anyone
to develop enticing and easy-to-use commercial databases.
Grolier
Grolier Inc. (800) 621-1115.
Long a favorite of librarians, Grolier boasts that 1999
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia (GME) is the Number 1
encyclopedia. With an impressive database of 36,000 articles,
over 15,000 images, 1,200 maps, 163 videos and animations, and
15 hours of sound, GME is maintaining the great reputation it
has developed among computer users.
The GME CD ($59.95) provides information through the Internet
by connecting to Grolier's servers in Danbury, Conn., where the
Online Knowledge Explorer provides exclusive access to two other
distinguished Grolier encyclopedias, The New Book of Knowledge
and the Encyclopedia Americana, along with the Grolier
Internet Index and Article Updates.
I find it a little irritating that the majority of the video
clips are on the second of the two disks, which means you have
to shuffle back and forth if you want to see video clips about
what you're researching. I'm also not thrilled with the new font
used in articles in the 99 version. It's quite a bit harder on
the eyes and almost appears to be a draft mode font. But the brilliantly
researched and well-written content more than make up for these
minor cosmetic flaws.
Grolier requires 72 MB for a full installation and 8 MB for
a minimal. This doesn't include QuickTime 3.0, which is required
for Grolier's products. (This reminds me of another annoyance:
the registration nag screens constantly appearing now on the QuickTime
3.0 player.)
Grolier
Multimedia Encyclopedia Online delivers the complete text
of the Academic American Encyclopedia and includes pictures,
maps, sounds, flags, timelines, and a yearbook. It also features
a comprehensive atlas and an Internet index, which links specific
articles to selected web sites.
Created for students from upper elementary school through college,
this is a comprehensive online database that is worth consideration.
Try the free trial period; if you decide to buy, an individual
subscription costs $59.95 a year. The company also sells school
licenses based on the size of the school. For more information,
call customer service at (800) 243-7256.
Grolier
Multimedia Encyclopedia Deluxe iMac Edition
is a new two-CD set designed to complement the iMac. (It will
also run on a 200 MHz or faster Power Mac, provided OS 8 is installed.)
With an interface customized to match the Bondi blue of the iMac,
this program will enhance any language arts classroom -- or, for
that matter, the entire curriculum. It takes advantage of full
screen capabilities, full-motion MPEG video playback, and high-quality
stereo sound not previously available on older Macs.
Grolier boasts that this CD approaches DVD-like multimedia quality,
and to some extent it does meet that claim. Owners can access
36,000 articles offline, which are on a junior high and high school
readability level. I also like the Internet subscription services
that are provided free to owners of this software. Younger students
can access The New Book of Knowledge on the Web, which contains
easy-to-read articles on a wide range of subjects. Older students
(high school to college) are also given a free pass to Encyclopedia
Americana online, with thousands of in-depth articles that
are great for advanced research assignments. The availability
of 22,000 articles online makes this purchase perfect for direct
connection Mac labs with either G3 or iMac machines.
What to buy
The sidebar below lists my Power User Picks for CD, DVD, and
online references. But I must say that the offerings of all six
major encyclopedia companies are so good that I feel comfortable
recommending any of them.
It's hard to believe that a tiny piece of silver plastic can
contain the information formerly marketed as a 100-pound set of
encyclopedia volumes. It's now possible to buy all of the
encyclopedias described here for less than the cost of a single
set of bound encyclopedias. If you can swing the money, I say:
Do it.
If you do, you'll have an incredible set of reference materials
for the next few years. And then, with the birth of Internet II,
which is now under development, you'll have access to even greater
information resources -- all at the click of your favorite browser.
And that, friends, is the beauty of the Technology Revolution.
Russell
Smith is an educational technology
consultant for Region 14 Education Service Center in Abilene,
Texas.
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