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It’s very cool that they can get a full length feature film on one DVD disk or a couple of VCDs, but of course you can do likewise with a videocassette, which isn’t that much bigger in physical size. Personally, I find it a lot more impressive that you can get a whole encyclopedia on an optical disk.
I mean, my daughter has a hard copy Encyclopedia Britannica, and it’s 32 great big books that together must weigh about a hundred pounds. To pack all that, and a lot more, on a single VCD or a few CD-ROMs is cause for a bit of wonder. Or in the case of the subject of this review, the Encyclopaedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2004, it’s THREE encyclopedias, plus more than 8,000 Year in Review articles from 1993-2002, plus Two Complete Dictionaries and Thesauruses, plus a World Atlas, a collection of historic Britannica Classics articles, a timeline resource with elementary, student, and adult reference packages; a research organizer; Britannica’s Knowledge Navigator interactive browser. IN total more than 100,000 articles plus an array of multimedia features incorporating 21,000 images, video, and audio -- all on one DVD or a suite of six CD-ROMs. This is one instance where “awesome” really is descriptively appropriate.
The three encyclopedias, all of which have been updated for this edition, include, as noted, the Encyclopedia Britannica, a reference standard since 1768, recently revised, and ideal for in-depth research as well as quick fact-finding. The ultimate reference Suite includes the text of the Britannica and more--75,000 articles, many written by Nobel laureates and other renowned contributors.
The Britannica Student Encyclopedia was created by Britannica’s editors for students in upper elementary, middle, and high school, with 15,000 entries geared to school subjects and presented in a lively style the students enjoy it.
The third reference collection is the Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia for young students, providing them with an information resource they can use almost as soon as they can read, written for children in the early grades, and designed to instill a love-it-up habit that will stay with them in school and throughout life.
A new addition to the Ultimate Reference Suite for 2004 is the above mentioned Year in Review, which lets you explore notable events in 8,000 articles covering science, politics, sports, and more from 1993 - 2002.
The Merriam-Webster ’s Collegiate® and Student Dictionaries and Thesauruses provide around 555,000 definitions, synonyms, and antonyms, which are linked from encyclopedia articles. The World Atlas includes more than 1300 maps, click-linked to encyclopedia articles as well.
The Britannica World Atlas has also been updated to take users on a tour of the world through more than 1,300 maps linked to articles about countries, economies, cultures, and national statistics.
The updated 25 Britannica Timelines show people, events, and discoveries of the past, with 4900 points Link to related articles for expanded referents.
The Knowledge Navigator is an interactive browser tool which allows you to explore a particular topic in depth using multiple links.
The Research Organizer is designed to help you manage research projects, with special tools that allow you to enter Notes, save bookmarks, and pictures and format reports.
Britannica Classics is another new addition to the suite, a collection of articles from Britannica’s most famous contributors -- from Sigmund Freud to Harry Houdini, Marie Curie to Orville Wright, or this article on Charles Dickens by G.K. Chesterton.
Multimedia content has also been updated, and there are additional Videos, Web Links to 167,000 sites selected by Britannica editors -- plus thousands of videos and magazines for a wealth of additional information.
The Britannica 2003 Ultimate Reference Suite requires Mac OS X 10.2 or higher, and offers three levels of installation on your hard drive.
The minimal installation installs the basic program and a few data files on the hard drive. When using the encyclopedia with this installation, you will need to keep either the DVD data disk or one of the CD-ROM disks in your optical drive. This version requires about 315 MB of free disk space. Disk switching will also be necessary with the CD-ROM version. I've tested the CD version on my CD-ROM drive only iBook and the DVD version on my Pismo PowerBook. The DVD is definitely slicker.
The custom installation option installs the basic program plus your choice of additional data resources on your hard drive. The install Options include:
Articles end thumbnail images-605 MB
Full-size images-600 MB
Atlases - 160 MB
Timeline - 20 MB
Multimedia 1.65 GB
The need for keeping a data desk in your optical drive and four disk switching with the CD-ROM version will depend on which data resources you choose to install. I strongly recommend installing as much of the package as you have room for on your hard drive, especially if you have a slower machine. This program needs all the help it can get in the speed department (more on this below).
The full installation includes the basic program plus all the data files on your hard drive, allowing you to run the ultimate reference Suite without using any optical disks after the initial installation. This installation will require 3.05 GB of free hard drive space, and it’s the one I would strongly recommend if you have plenty of empty space on your hard drive, and plan to use the reference work often. Aside from convenience, it will cut down wear and tear on your optical Drive, especially with the CD-ROM version, and should offer faster performance as well.
The installation also requires you to uninstall any previous versions of Britannica Software by dragging the folder to the trash, then restarting your computer and turning off any virus sensing software.
To install, insert the DVD data disk or the install CD into your optical drive. If the installer doesn’t automatically start up, double click on the Britannica disk icon and choose Install Britannica. You will be asked to type in the serial number provided on the disk case.
Select install folder (or accept the default), choose one of the three install installation types described above, and let the installer do its thing. With the CD-ROM version, you will be prompted to switch disks in the CD-ROM drive as necessary. A full installation may take as long as 45 minutes.
Once the installation process is complete, double click the Britannica 2004 The Ultimate Reference Suite icon on your desktop.
The program interface is of the multiple window type with navigation and browsing controls on the left, and content displayed in the large central/right-hand window. The left hand pane is divided into a control panel with the library selections and buttons at the top, and a search results window below. The search results allow you to choose the sort of reference you want to consult:
The three encyclopedias - articles
A-Z Browse
Classic Articles
Year In Review
Multimedia - video, audio, and other presentations
A toolbar at the top of the main window panel gives you click access to:
Home
Search
Browse
Dictionary & Thesaurus - definitions, etymology, spelling
World Atlas
Interactive Timelines
Research Organizer
Knowledge Navigator
Encyclopedia articles contain links to things like flags, images, maps, statistics, tables. You are also you can also save text or images, and notes -- which can be viewed in the Research Organizer, which has tools for helping you create a research report.
To use notes in an outline, open the tools menu, select Research Organizer, create a New Project folder, and drag-and-drop your note into it. You can edit your note text and the outline structure by selecting Outline View From the Toolbar, or create new notes from scratch. You can also add jpeg or gif images, say, from a digital camera, to a research organizer report. When you are finished, you can print your report or export it as HTML to view in a Web browser.
The Britannica 2004 Ultimate Reference Suite packaging is very classy in blue on blue for the CD version, or white and silver lettering on a black background for the DVD, which goes nicely with the new OS X 10.3 Panther livery.
As I commented about the Britannica 2002, this package is “…a tremendous resource. The mind boggles at the amount of information it contains.” The Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite 2004 is all that and much more.
Another new feature this year is that the disks are Mac/Windows ambidextrous, so you can use them cross-platform. System requirements are as follows:
Macintosh
• Mac OS 10.2 or higher
• iMac or G3 350 MHz or faster processor
• 256 MB RAM
• DVD : 275 MB free hard-disk space,
• CD : 315 MB free hard-disk space
• DVD : DVD-ROM drive,
• CD : CD-ROM drive
• 800x600 resolution, millions of colors
• Mouse
• Sound Card and speakers recommended
• Printer recommended
• Internet access recommended
Windows
• Microsoft Windows 98 SE, 2000, Me, XP, NT (with Service Pack 5 or higher)
• Pentium 350MHz or faster processor
• 256 MB RAM
• DVD : 275 MB free hard-disk space, CD : 315 MB free hard-disk space
• DVD : DVD-ROM drive, CD : CD-ROM drive
• 800x600 resolution, 16-bit color
• Mouse
• Sound Card and speakers recommended
• Printer recommended
• Internet access recommended
However, take that 350 MHz G3 minimum system requirement with a grain of salt. I found that the URS 2004 suite was pretty sluggish in responding even on my 700 MHz G3 iBook with 640 MB of RAM, As with most Mac ports of Windows software, which this product essentially is, performance is not scintillating. You will be happiest if your have a G4 or G5 Mac with plenty of horsepower and RAM.
On the iBook, I found that virtually every function (even the buttons in the installer) responded in sloooooooooow motion. This made even basic functions like scrolling through browse menus very tedious.
Another annoyance is that Macintosh interface and navigation conventions are not followed. I especially miss the File Menu functions, such as Select All and Copy. Unless I missed something, the only way to copy text from a URS article is to drag/scroll over it to highlight what you want, which was excruciatingly slow on my iBook, although it worked.
On the other hand, the program seemed very stable, and I experienced no crashes or wonky behavior other than the slow response.
Britannica URS 2004 is also oriented for use on computers with higher resolution screens than the 1024 x 728 screen in my iBook, which it completely fills (the Dock gets in the way), even though the minimum quoted spec is 800 x 600.
However, the big advantage of a resource like this is that you have an incredible amount of information at you fingertips. You’ll enjoy it more if you have a faster Mac, but it’s pretty impressive on any machine.
The Britannica 2004 Ultimate Reference Suite lists for $69.95 -- either version, and currently there is a $20 mail-in rebate coupon available on the Britannica URS website, which drops the price to $49.95.
For more information, visit:
http://www.britannica.com/
Tags: Reviews ď Book Reviews ď
