Reseñas proporcionadas por Syndetics
Library Journal Review
This is the second title in ABC-CLIO's "Interactive Encyclopedia" series. Like the first (The Women's Movement in the United States, Database&Disc Reviews, LJ 9/1/99), American Social Issues combines a multimedia encyclopedia on CD-ROM with a companion web site containing related resources and interactive activities geared toward students and classroom teachers. This self-described ready-reference work contains more than 800 topical entries centered around eight "currently popular areas of interest in American society": labor, family, crime, discrimination, pacifism, environment, education, and sexuality. The multimedia components are high quality, and most entries include photographs, video clips, audio excerpts, primary source documents, and/or statistical tables. The clearly written, balanced entries deal with a range of topics in six categories: biographies, documents, events, glossary, movements, and organizations. Examples of topics covered include the 30-hour work week, the American Forest Congress, the Christian Coalition, gentrification, Harvey Milk, Jim Crow laws, and violence in schools. Unlike the "ahistorical" treatment of social issues afforded by most contemporary media sources, the entries here generally provide historical background. Another praiseworthy feature is the liberal use of "see also" hypertext links to related entries elsewhere on the disc. Graphical icons link to media files that can be printed, downloaded, or copied to the clipboard with ease. Operationally, the main menu offers six access points: full-text search (includes Boolean operators); browse entry titles alphabetically; subject index; themes (overview essays about the eight thematic areas addressed by the encyclopedia); media (groupings of all the media files into one list); and a time line showing major events and influential people. The Bottom Line: This unique, well-designed resource offers excellent entry to a much-needed compendium of current social problems in a highly accessible manner. American Social Issues: An Interactive Encyclopedia will best serve users in public libraries and school and academic libraries serving junior high through early undergraduate students.ÄBarbara Burg, Research Instruction, Harvard Coll. Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up-American Social Issues contains 850 encyclopedic articles about the most pressing social issues in America during the 20th centuryÄfrom the organization of Women's Garment workers in 1900 to the conclusion of the O.J. Simpson trial in 1997, with plenty in between. It is set up much like other CD-ROM encyclopedias, using browse or search functions for the subject, media, and thematic indexes. It is comfortably navigated with clearly labeled buttons and easy to read links. This product performed as expected on Windows 95, 98, and NT platforms. The purpose of this speciality encyclopedia is to gather together all the controversies of 20th century American society. Over 70 percent of the topics covered (with media files) can be found easily in a good online encyclopedia such as Encyclopedia Britannica. The entries in American Social Issues are well-written and accurate, but many are scantÄtwo or three paragraphsÄfor a single-subject encyclopedia. Since the CD-ROM is only two-thirds full, the entries could have been more in-depth. The photographs and other media complement the articles well, although Internet links would have added value. There is a companion Web site for this product, with a few supplementary activities for students and teachers. These activities do link to Internet sites that have more extensive information about certain topics (i.e., historychannel.com). The most useful components for librarians are the texts of various speeches, Supreme Court rulings, and other significant words of the century. The American Social Issues CD is not a must-have for most libraries. However, where upper elementary and middle school students do in-depth research about social issues and your library has funds available to purchase special encyclopedias, this product would make a good starting point.ÄGinnie Steele Hoover, Louisville Free Public Library, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
System requirements: Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98; 16 MB RAM (32 MB recommended); at least 45 MB free hard disk space. These programs are the first in ABC-CLIO's Interactive Encyclopedia series. They contain essays and various media on themes all related to social or women's issues. American Social Issues has more than 800 entries organized under eight themes: crime, discrimination, education, environment, family, labor, pacifism, and sexuality. The Women's Movement in the United States has nearly 700 entries on topics related to domesticity, education, the military, popular culture, politics, feminism, social issues, and the workplace. Each of these sections contains relevant historical and contemporary information and may include an overview, biographies, documents, related events, related movements, related organizations, and a glossary. The documents section offers only information about the document, though several of the essays in this and other sections have links to full text or excerpts from primary-source documents themselves. In addition to the thematic sections, users can access a subject index, list of entries, time line, media (captioned black-and-white and color pictures, video, sound, primary source documents, and tables), a companion Web site, and a list of cited sources. Topics covered are varied. On the social issues disc, they include the Anita Hill case, the Brady Handgun Violence Act, the dust bowl, Marian Wright Edelman, the Kent State shootings, the Family and Medical Leave Act, Ralph Nader, and the V-chip. The women's movement disc includes the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, the ACLU, the Seneca Falls Convention, the Tailhook scandal, and the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. The Triangle fire entry features a video reenactment, a photograph of the building, and the New York Times article reporting the fire. Both discs have entries for some topics--such as Jane Addams, the Baby M case, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Ladies Home Journal sit-in--although treatment is not the same. Navigation is easy and intuitive. Users can do Boolean searching using a preset template or browse the subject index or list of entries. Searching can be done through the entire program or limited to one or more segments. The entries can also be viewed as an annotated list. Hot links are embedded within the text, and users can easily revisit a site from their navigation trail or by bookmarking it. All text, pictures, and tables are printable and can also be exported or copied to another application. The time line is also printable, an unusual but valuable feature. A password-protected preferences section allows the teacher or librarian to set printing, saving, and word processor options. The companion Web sites, directly linked from the tool bar, include a teacher resources section with lesson plans and class activities, related Web sites, and tips for using the computer and Internet in the classroom. The student resources section includes activities, material summarized from the CD-ROMs, related Web sites, and writing and Internet search tips. These companion sites extend the programs for all users. The various features should make the programs useful in a school setting. Although much of the information can be found in other sources, its availability on two easily searchable discs will make these Interactive Encyclopedia titles favorites with middle-and high-school researchers.
