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NZ Macguide Issue 8
Losing yourself for hours on end with a good bit of software
may not be anything new these days, but when the application doesn't involve
flying, driving or shooting, you know you're dealing with something really
special.
When I received my copy of Britannica 2003 I expected a wholesomely
informative, yet dry CD-ROM encyclopaedia - boy was I wrong. Since installing
Britannica 2003, I've spent hours engrossed in the byways of human knowledge.
It's bigger than both of us, Bertha!
Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I opted for the full install, which
took up a whopping 2.4Gb of hard disk space. Twenty minutes and four CD-ROM
swaps later, Britannica 2003 was installed. If the long install sounds a little
too much, there's also quicker and slimmer 400Mb install option too.
Britannica 2003 delivers the digital equivalent of all three
printed Junior, College and Reference editions all through one unified interface.
When I say Britannica 2003 is big, I'm not kidding - the only thing missing
here is the kitchen sink! (actually there's 527 entries relating to the words
'kitchen sink'). There's over 91,000 articles, 200 video clips, 220,000 web-links,
1300 maps, plus 555,000 dictionary and thesaurus entries ... you get the picture - if
it's happened in the known history of planet Earth, chances are it's in Britannica
2003. This puppy is huge.
Gooey Gui Phooey
Although swags of information is great, all the information and good intentions
in the world don't matter a jot if that information is difficult or hard
to access because of a poorly designed user interface.
While Britannica 2003's user interface bears a closer resemblance
to a Linux than the familiar OSX GUI, I found it highly intuitive to use. This
said, some particularly rabid Mac users may find this and the never ending
stream of windows popping open as you drill down further for information slightly
annoying.
While I can live with the quirky interface, there was one feature
that was particularly frustrating. After typing a search query into Britannica's
massive database, you're limited to only seeing fifteen search results or topics
at a time, which slows the pace of searches down dramatically. What bugs me
with this is that the 2002 edition had a complete list of topics A-Z fashion
that you could scroll through - I guess the old adage applies here "if
it's not broken - don't fix it".
Screeds and screeds
While Britannica's interface may not be to everyone's taste, the quality of
the information contained within Britannica is unbeatable. The 21,000 Images
and illustrations in Britannica are all top notch while the text and multimedia
are also incredibly rich and detailed.
What really shines through with Britannica 2003 is the sheer
depth and quality of information available. While most CD-ROM encyclopaedias
usually offer a wide array of searchable topics, their coverage is usually
fairly lightweight. With Britannica 2003 you can literally spend hours upon
hours jumping from related link to related link and still not feel like you'd
exhausted whats on offer.
Aside from the already bulging repository of material Britannica
stored away on disk, CD or DVD, Britannica also have an extensive range of
web-links and online, as well as a free one year quarterly update service,
ensuring that topics are constantly kept up to date.
Useful Bits
Britannica 2003 also includes a funky animated hypertext knowledge browser.
Firing up this sees a a small pop up window appear, with key topics are circled
by related topics. Click a related topic, and it's in turn surrounded by
related topics and so and so on - if any take your fancy click them
and read away to your hearts content (beats the snot out of watching Shortland
St any old day!). Hours can pass unnoticed, and best of all it's a great
brainstorming tool for collaborative study.
Another useful tool for researchers and students is the research
organiser. Essentially it's a mini browser/file manager, the research organiser
which allows you to drag and drop bookmarks, images, chunks of text or sound
recordings into a single location, where they can be indexed and organised
- Fantastic for homework or long term research exercises.
Conclusions
While Encyclopaedia Britannica's interface does have some interesting quirks
that may not be to everyone's liking, there's no doubt about it, Britannica
is possibly the richest repositories of high quality research information about
everything and anything there is.
Another point in favour of Britannica is that, unlike most other
shrink-wrapped OSX native applications currently available, Britannica 2003
edition doesn't require that your Mac be an uuber computer. With a quoted minimum
spec of a G3 350Mhz and 256Mb of ram, Britannica ran at a positively snappy
pace on my PowerBook G4 700Mhz system - a refreshing change in this age
of bloat-ware and great for G3 owners facing the growing number of G4 only
apps out there.
All in all Britannica provides access to a huge array of information
using some extremely well thought out research tools. Add to this the ability
to get online updates and links and the Britannica 2003 edition is definitely
a worthy edition to anyone's arsenal of research tools.
© Parkside Media 2003
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