CD-ROMs That Entertain, Teach

It seems as if everyone who has ever published a book, produced a TV show or edited a magazine is trotting out a CD-ROM program these days. Resembling a compact audio disc, CD-ROMs can store huge amounts of software, graphics, text, sound, video and other data.

Publishing companies, which have high hopes for the technology, are searching for creative ways to use CDs. Some of their offerings are on target, but many are trivial or boring.

Like television, books or other media, the most compelling CD programs are based on important or useful material presented in an intriguing or entertaining manner.

Advertisements for “The Grammy Awards: A 34-Year Retrospective” ($49.95, Compton’s NewMedia, 619-929-2500) whetted my appetite, but the disc was a disappointment. I wanted to see video clips and hear the award-winning music. Instead, I looked at static photos and heard short excerpts from the presentations. The music is mostly limited to short, two- to five-second samples from the broadcast as nominees’ names are read.

Some people will enjoy searching for data on past Grammy awards, but serious researchers may be frustrated by the disc’s limited search capabilities. My wife, a follower of Grammy awards, would prefer a coffee table book with an accompanying audio CD.

Contrast this with “The Mayo Clinic Family Health Book CD-ROM” (Interactive Ventures, Rochester, Minn., 507-282-2076). Based on the 1,378-page book, the $99.95 program covers a wide range of issues in ways that a book couldn’t. Sophisticated search techniques allow you to quickly narrow your subject.

You can browse the disc’s table of contents or use your mouse to click on pictures to locate information. Key terms are highlighted to enable you to click on them for more detailed information.

Animation and video are popular elements in a lot of CDs but often they seem gratuitous. With the “Family Health Book,” animations are valuable teaching tools that present far more information than still pictures. The animated and voice-annotated segment on infant cardiopulmonary resuscitation, for example, provides clear instructions on how to perform the emergency procedure.

Other segments help explain medical procedures. For example, you can see an animated description of a doctor performing a cystoscopic examination to reveal a kidney stone. Another segment lets you view various layers of the body.

One big shortcoming of the program is that you can’t print or copy any of the text. If someone in my family were sick, I would want to print out the appropriate information.

The disc is available for Multimedia Windows; an Apple Macintosh version is due out by April.

I wouldn’t want to read a novel on a computer screen, but a CD is a good substitute for a printed encyclopedia. The 1992 edition of “Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia for Windows” ($395, Compton’s NewMedia) is the equivalent of a 26-volume printed encyclopedia with 9 million words and 15,000 illustrations and photos. It also comes with a world atlas and dictionary.

Although it’s big, it’s easy to search. To find a topic, you can search with a keyword, such as atmosphere, or a thought, such as: “Why is the sky blue?”

There are 60 minutes of sound and 45 animation sequences, including some with full-motion video. While reading about John F. Kennedy, you can jump to a video clip of his inaugural speech. You can look at a short video of Martin Luther King’s historic march on Washington and, with the click of a button, read an article about civil rights.

I enjoyed the slide shows, which include a series of photos and illustrations accompanied by narration. Some examples of topics are the American Revolution, Shakespeare, cartoons and pottery.

CDs don’t have to have graphics and video to be useful. Ziff Communication’s “Computer Select” (212-503-4400) only includes text, but the information is invaluable for computer professionals. It contains the full text of articles from major computer publications, as well as technical specifications for more than 75,000 products. At $1,000 a year, updated monthly, it’s not for everyone. But it’s a great tool for people whose livelihoods depend on quick access to information about computer products.

To use CD-ROM programs, your PC must be equipped with a CD drive. Prices start at about $300.