Facts on File world news CD-ROM

Abstract

Facts On File World News CD-ROM. New York: Facts On File News Services, 1997. Single CD-ROM disk, with quarterly updates. $995 (Canada $1,375) annual subscription fee (includes network access in a single building). There is a 33 percent discount for a second-site (building) license. Requirements. IBM PC 486 or higher; Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows95; 16MB RAM, 7MB free hard disk space (25MB free space for custom installation, which provides faster searching); color monitor; 2x or faster CD-ROM; mouse and printer (optional). Macintosh and DOS versions also available. For this review, Facts On File World News CD-ROM was installed on an IBM Aptiva PC with a 586 (120MHz) processor, Windows95, 24MB RAM, 1.6GB hard drive, a 4x CD-ROM, and a mouse. Installation is relatively simple. The Facts On File installation shell installed Netscape Communicator (optional) and Personal Library Software's PL Web-CD search engine server onto the hard drive. Windows95 users may require installation of TCP/IP communications software (on the Windows95 setup disk). Facts On File World News CD-ROM uses a browser to navigate the database, connect to the database's 250,000 hyperlinks, control document output, and assist searching. Therefore, a browser must be installed. Netscape Communicator, the recommended browser, is provided on the Facts On File CD. Internet Explorer, however, may be used if it already resides on your PC. Facts On File World News CD-ROM is the electronic counterpart to the venerable Facts On File print publication (Facts On File, 1940-). It includes the complete text of more than seventy thousand news stories from Facts On File since January 1, 1980. Additionally, it includes more than two hundred photographs, three hundred maps, two hundred and fifty thousand hyperlinks, and four hundred primary source documents --ranging from President Clinton's second inaugural address (1997) to the Declaration of Independence (1777). Essentially Facts On File (print version) is a news digest service. It collects news from major newspapers, news magazines, and myriad online and Internet resources. The Facts On File editorial staff analyzes this information and produces well-respected news summaries. Students (high school and college), the general public, and, to a limited extent, even faculty and scholars have found Facts On File reports to be very useful. Facts On File World News CD-ROM uses new technology to turn a venerable reference tool into an extremely well integrated, interconnected database of hyperlinks with a sophisticated, easy-to-use search engine. Users of the print product will find the electronic version provides them with a quantum leap in research capability. The hyperlinks greatly facilitate the discovery of related stories, even for the most unskilled researcher. …