English
Department CD-ROM Collection
Literature | Film | Reference | Edutainment
American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century (PC/Mac) "Combining The Library of America's two-volume collection into a single definitive anthology, American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century presents over one thousand poems by nearly 150 poets. The CD-ROM contains an introduction by John Hollander and an audio introduction by Garrison Keillor, as well as six hours of audio excerpts form the live reading that heralded the anthology's original publication. Performances include Harold Bloom reading Brayant's "Forest Hymn," Cynthia Ozick reading Poe's "The Conqueror Worm," and N. Scott Momaday reciting a Navajo prayer. Also in the audio portion are performances of spirituals, parlor songs, and folk music."
The Anglo-Saxons: An Exploration of Their Art, Literature and Way of Life (PC) Developed jointly by Research Machines Learning Resources and the British Museum.
Baron's Book Study Notes (PC) Study notes for 101 famous works.
The Beat Experience (PC/Mac) "Presented in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art's exhibition 'Beat Culture and the New America: 1950-65," this disc includes original master recordings by Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane; excerpts from over twenty underground films by Kenneth Anger, Stan Brakhage, Maya Deren, and others; as well as texts, photos, spoken word, and films by and about William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and other key figures of the Beat generation. More than just an anthology, the CD-ROM brings the roots of contemporary art and culture to life through specially designed graphics by Sue Coe, Keven Kerslake, Stephen Kroninger, Gary Panter, and Suzan Pitt, as well as provocative explorations into sexuality and intoxication integral to the Beat experience."
Chaucer: Life and Times (PC) Includes the complete works from the Riverside Chaucer, modern translations by Nevill Coghill, plot summaries, critical commentary, historical notes, over 200 maps and pictures, music and "authentic readings in Middle English." One accesses the information in this CD through a depiction of a scholar’s desk upon which rests virtual copies of the above resources. A good word/phrase search feature can scan the entire disk instantly.
The Complete Shakespeare Collection (PC) 37 plays, 150 sonnets, and more.
The Complete Peter Leroy (so far) Hyperfiction by Eric Kraft (Mac) "For twenty-five years Eric Kraft has been writing an astonishing series of novels set in the 1950s town of Babbington, Long Island--and dreaming of linking them electronically . . . . Here it is: an interactive hypertext version of his novels in which readers can 'wander the streets of work,' tracing themes and ideas through the story as a whole. The result is a comic saga greater (and even more entertaining) than the sum of its (already highly entertaining) parts. While Peter Leroy's coming of age occupies the center of the story, overlapping events and characters swirl around him: imaginary friends, their sultry sisters, luscious science teachers, and devoted grandparents with a X-rated livelihood. This is no gratuitous technotrick. It's storytelling that has found its form, a hilarious read and a miracle of narrative inventiveness."
Macbeth (Mac) An entire graduate seminar on one little disc. Supplementals include an audio performance by the Royal Shakespeare Company of the entire play; textual glosses on history, language, and Jacobean theatre; a 24,000 word commentary; film clips from cinematic treatments by Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, and Roman Polanski; a Karaoke feature that allows one to join the performance by taking on a speaking role; a concordance, maps, illustrations, and 1,500 annotations. Hypertext used throughout; text established by A.R. Brownmuller.
Medieval Realms: Britain From 1066-1500 (PC) Built from the collections of the British Library, this CD contains 623 written sources, excerpts from a wide range of writing (chronicles, lives, letters, charters, travel writing, poetry, romances, and drama). There are 35 excerpts in the original Middle English as well as Modern English, which can be compared side-by-side on screen. Sound clips are available of medieval music and spoken Middle English from Chaucer, Piers Plowman, and Sir Gawain & the Green Knight. Images of manuscripts, artifacts, paintings, sculpture, architecture can be viewed. All resources can be printed out or copied into word processing programs for editing. Includes extensive hard copy instructions describing the CD's resources and features. Searches can be done by topic, date, word, evidence type, or combination of criteria.
Poetry in Motion (Mac & PC) Performances and interviews on video that can play beside original texts by Helen Adam, Miguel Algarin, Amiri Baraka, Ted Berrigan, Charles Bukowski, William S. Burroughs, John Cage, Jim Carroll, Jayne Cortez, Robert Creeley, Christopher Dewdney, Diana DiPrima, Kenward Elmslie, Four Horsemen, Alan Ginsberg, John Giorno, Michael McClure, Ted Milton, Michael Ondaatje, Ed Sanders, Ntozake Shange, Gary Snyder, Tom Waits, and Anne Waldman. An excellent way to emphasize poetry’s vocal and dramatic foundations.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, BookWorm Student Library (PC/Mac) Includes full text of The Scarlet Letter and Custom House, with text histories, early American illustrations, graphics, audio, movies.
The Shakespeare Collection (PC/Mac) Zane Publishing. Three separate CD-ROMs that include over 700 images, 115 minutes of multimedia presentations, 300 interactive questions; accompanied with these reference tools: Webster's New World Dictionary, American Concise Encyclopedia, and Barron's Book Notes.
World's Greatest Classic Books (PC) Over 3,500 literary classics, extensive search capabilities, detailed profiles of 200 authors, plus a dictionary.
All-Movie Guide (PC/Mac) Although far from the best multimedia film title, this is the largest, with over 90,000 movie listings.
Bernard of Hollywood's Marilyn (PC/Mac) A multimedia biography of Monroe from the perspective of one of her many photographers, Bruno Bernard.
Cinemania ‘96 (PC) The best all-purpose CD encyclopedia of film, built from a database linking Leonard Maltin’s capsule reviews, Roger Ebert’s full-length reviews, summaries of Pauline Kael’s reviews, and the detailed plot descriptions and reviews of many classic and recent films from The Motion Picture Guide. Biographies include over 4,000 performers, artists, and industry figures from Baseline’s Encyclopedia of Film and Ephraim Katz’s Film Encyclopedia. Films, people, and terms can be searched by topic, word or phrase.
Classic Cartoons (PC/Mac) Over 52 minutes of early animation, including Little Lulu, Raggedy Ann, and Woody Woodpecker.
International Index to Film and Television Periodicals (PC) A database consisting of articles in film and television journals and magazines published from 1982 to 1992 (film and television articles in general periodicals and newspapers are not included). Searches may be done by subject, film title, biography, author, periodical, or word. Also included are a list of indexed periodicals (1972-1992), a list of FIAF (Federation of International Archives of Film) members, a bibliography of FIAF members' publications 1990-92, a directory of film/tv documentation collections, "treasures from the film archives" (a list of rare film prints and their locations), and a Bibliography of Latin Cinema (in Spanish).
Our Secret Century: Archival Films From the Darker Side of the American Dream by Rick Prelinger (PC/Mac)
The Rebecca Project (Mac) One of the first of its kind. A full CD devoted to Hitchcock's famous film adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel, with clips, overviews of Hitch and du Maurier, and essays on the film as a significant feminist film text.
Reel Women: The Untold Story, with Jodie Foster (PC) A hyperlinked database of "exclusive interviews; rare film clips and photographs; biographies and searchable filmographies of more than 100 women filmmakers; 2000 films referenced; original documentaries; and a trivia game to test your knowledge."
TV Commercials: The 50's & 60's (PC/Mac) GI-Joe, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, Etch-a-Sketch, Frito Bandito, Betty Boop, Lucy and Ricky for Phillip Morris cigarettes, Laurel and Hardy for Hamms Beer, Flintstones selling Winston Cigarettes, and more.
The Complete Bible and Reference Guide (PC) Includes video and audio clips and more than 300 illustrations.
Encarta (PC) Considered by many the best CD encyclopedia on the market. Over 26,000 articles can be searched by topic, word, or phrase. Long articles have outlines and many topics are linked with over 8000 photographs, 8 hours of digital audio, 100s of maps, and over 100 movie and animation clips. There are "interactivities" such as an atlas and a World Languages feature that lets one compare the sound of similar words in 60 languages. A timeline from 15,000,000 BC to the present can be used to isolate articles from a certain era. Mindmaze tests one’s knowledge by asking questions as one journies through an animated 3D castle. Hypertext throughout.
Her Heritage: A Biographical Encyclopedia of Famous American Women (PC/Mac) Textual entries accompanied by photographs and motion clips where available. Also arranged by categories such as professions, titles of works, major awards.
Learning Windows 95 (PC) Corel's Learning Windows is a comprehensive training course that guides you step by step through the installation and new features of Windows 95.
Mayo Clinic: Family Pharmacist (PC) Includes a tool for constructing a personal health profile; a database covering 7,600 brand-name and generic drugs; a survey of medical conditions; a resource on non-prescription drugs; a guide to early disease detection; and a first aid handbook.
Mayo Clinic: Family Health Book (PC) Includes color atlas of human anatomy, text sections on lifecycles, The World Around Us, Keeping Fit, Human Disease and Disorders, Photographic Guide to Common Skin Disorders [!], and Modern medical care.
Microsoft Bookshelf ‘95 (PC) A neat combination of standard reference books, including The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (3rd Ed.), The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia, Roget’s Thesaurus, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, The Hammond Atlas, The People's Chronology, The World Almanac and Book of Facts. Searches can be restricted to a single book or can incorporate them all.
Microsoft Wine Guide (PC) Comes with a wine selector (by region, grape, style, rating, food match), a guide on wine tasting, a world atlas of wine, an encyclopedia, and an overview with (video clip) by expert Oz Clarke
Streets Plus (PC) ". . . is no ordinary map of the United States. It's a comprehensive and detailed as the best printed map, plus it can electronically transport you instantly to any place or address. Get telephone book listings right on the map for lodging, restaurants, museums, and tourist information centers across the country. Personalize and annotate your maps--highlight a route, add your own notes and address lists, change the level of detail you see, and print it to take it along."
Beethoven: The Ninth Symphony (PC) This outstanding resource contains numerous ways to learn about and enjoy Beethoven’s great Ninth Symphony. Included are a "Pocket Guide," which lets one play individual passages from the symphony; "Beethoven’s World," a 124 page biography on the composer that includes images and music clips; "The Art of Listening," a lesson on the sonata, the elements of the orchestra, and the history of symphonic form; "A Close Reading," a nearly note-by-note discussion of the musical structure, instrumentation, and thematic design of the Ninth. "The Ninth Game" tests one’s knowledge of Beethoven and his symphony without stuffiness by including an animated bust of the composer which praises correct answers and harangues wrong ones in German. A brief glossary explains all the musical terminology employed.
The Complete Herman Collection (PC/Mac) Jim Unger's classic Herman series.
Dinosaurs (PC) A disc suitable for kids or adults, with an atlas, timeline, ouline of dinosaur families, guided tours explaining fundamentals of paleontology, dinosaur (animated) movies, and index. Includes picture gallery and screen saver functions for viewing the extensive collection of images. The digital sound (including natural mise-en-scene and palentological commentary) is outstanding. As slick as Jurassic Park but much more informative.
Marvin Minsky: The Society of Mind (PC/MAC) " . . . combines video and graphics on the screen with the complete text of The Society of Mind. Minsky's theories come to life as the visionary thinker walks, talks, and jumps across the page. . . . A seminal intellect in computer science, Marvin Minsky pioneered the field of Artificial Intelligence, co-founded the M.I.T. Media Laboratory, and is currently Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at M.I.T."
Mozart: The Dissonant Quartet (PC) A wonderful way to learn about Mozart and the string quartet through the "dissonant" quartet in C major. Included are 40 pages of multimedia text on violin, viola, and cello, 66 pages on Mozart’s life and times, 64 pages on the history and design of the string quartet, 174 pages of close reading, a 20 page bibliography for further reading, and a game and glossary built on the disc’s resources. Each section uses hypertext and sound clips, and some, like the section on instruments, are veritable treasure troves of text, image, and sound--a complete and wonderful exploitation of the multimedia format.
Schubert: The Trout Quintet (PC) Schubert built a quintet around his song "Die Forelle" and Microsoft has built a multimedia musical symphony around this quintet. Like their Beethoven and Mozart discs, Microsoft’s treatment of Schubert includes a "Close Reading" section (172 pages), a biography of the composer (88 pages), a "Classical Background" (43 pages), a bibliography, another game, and a separate treatment, in text, notation, and music, of "Die Forelle." All chapters use hypertext, image, and sound.
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