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 The Library of Congress:
Eyes of the NationSouthpeak Interactive W/ The History Channel and The Library of Congress Southpeak Interactive is certainly ambitious. They've tackled action games like "Men in Black," Myst-like adventure games like "Temujin," and educational kids' games like "The Robot Club" and "Junkland Jam." It seems like they're trying to cover the entire spectrum of CD-ROM products, with varying results, and they're less than three years old. It's no surprise, then, that Southpeak is tackling the Library of Congress with "Eyes of the Nation." It's an attempt to fit three buildings' and several centuries' worth of material onto one CD-ROM. It's stuffed with photos, paintings, reports, noted, narrative slide shows, audio clips, and movies documenting history, with a focus on American history. And there's a good dose of history about the Library itself, starting with Thomas Jefferson's sale of his personal collection of books after the British burned the first collection during the War of 1812. Tours through the book collection, photo and art galleries, maps, and special galleries attempt to give readers an overview of the Libraries holdings - a big job when you consider there are more than 650,000 items in the Rare Books and Special Collections Division alone. As a result, "Eyes of the Nation" ends up more of a resource to explore and less a handy reference. There are several different methods to dig through this material, with a chronological section as the centerpiece. Each method is helpful, but not terribly precise. That's too much to hope for when you're archiving everything from early versions of the Bible to political cartoons from every major war, from pictures of jazz and rock greats to a rough schematic of the starship Enterprise. You can search through the archives, but you're more likely to get fascinating minutia than the big picture. With a collection this cast, that can only happen after hours of research and interaction, which this CD-ROM is surely capable of providing. And if you're a history buff, the navigational tools will help you structure your exploration. You can save your favorite artwork in a portfolio as you go along, and even make notes with Notepad, or your computer's equivalent. And when you call up artwork for a full-screen view, you can zoom in and out for a better look. Overall, the package is definitely worth a look, especially for all of you aspiring Cliff Clavens out there. So consider giving your nerves a rest in between planet-conquering bouts of Starcraft, and take a little time to learn about this planet. -Nick |
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