Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia,

Reviewer: Linnie Calland
Teacher at Mason County Middle School
Maysville, KY
EMail: lcalland@mason.k12.ky.us

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, 1998 Edition
The Learning Company
http://www.learningco.com
CD-Rom for PC or Mac
School Edition $54.95
Also includes: Curriculum Integration Guide (3-ring binder)
Evaluated on a Digital PC 3000
Reviewed: April 2, 1998
Rating: 10 on a scale from 1 to 10: (10 being best), Way Cool! Best multimedia encyclopedia I've seen so far. (I have used five others.)

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia presents a world of information in the form of articles, pictures, videos, maps, charts, timelines, animations, slide shows and Internet links. It is a complete 26-volume encyclopedia, plus much more. The main tableau consists of 3 windows: find viewer, article viewer, and multimedia viewer. Each of the viewers can be rearranged or increased to full screen very easily. The find viewer shows either the entire list of contents, results of a word search, a topic tree, or bookmark list. Within the article viewer or multimedia viewer, the user can click on any unknown word and get an immediate definition from the dictionary. The article viewer also has a button for other items related to your topic. Navigation within the encyclopedia is made simple by buttons which include Find, Back, Atlas, Timeline, Internet, Special, Tools, Print, Help, and Exit. At any point in your research, you can bookmark your item and return to your list when needed. The maps include article connections and the timeline is divided into world events and United States events.

Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia is easy to use. I like all the connections between media, making research more fun. Internet connections have a summary of the web site which includes a target age range, a nice feature for parents and teachers.

There are many other way cool features about this software which include, but are not limited to: explorable thematic environments, planetarium, star quest game, this date in history, create your own multimedia show, and picture tours related to topic.

I have not yet found anything I didn't like about this encyclopedia. Even the opening splash screen and music, which may become tiring after many uses, can be disabled in preferences.

The binder which accompanies the software says it is for grades 3-12. Although 8-10 year-olds will enjoy the pictures and other multimedia, they may find the articles difficult to read. Readability analyses done on a random ten articles were in the range of 5th to 11th grade.

The Curriculum Integration Guide which comes with the software is very extensive, with student activities for developing/improving reference and computer skills. Activities include scavenger hunts (geared to a variety of curricular areas), information literacy lessons, and research projects. There are complete lesson plans and student guide sheets for each activity, as well as training materials for introducing the encyclopedia to the class.

Additional comments: "Ease of use is surprising." "I like all the functions." "Wow! Neat pictures." This software is relevant to all subject matter. This software would be particularly relevant for my visual learners. Thanks for letting me review this Way Cool software!

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