set in the home is one of the "ba-
sics" to provide one's children,
and is a resource to which par-
ents turn for their own edifica-
tion as well. For them, a home
without "a decent set of encyclo-
pedias" is poor indeed.
Educators generally concur
that properly and frequently
used, an encyclopedia set can
become a valuable aid to learn-
ing, especially if parents and chil-
dren turn to the resource togeth-
er.
As for their availability in the
home or at a library, the choice is
largely one of convenience.
How To Begin Selection
If you've decided that having
a set of encyclopedias is right for
your family consider these guide-
lines for narrowing the field.
ENCYCLOPEDIA page P27
`Adornment Id Never Anything
Except- A Reflection Of The Heart"
—Coco Chanel
YOUNG FURNITURE
SPECIALIZING IN CUSTOM BEDDEVG AND FURIVITURE
FOR INFANTS THROUGH YOUNG ADULTS.
• Cribs - Strollers - High Chairs • Dutniler Glide-R-Motion Rocker
• Unique Hand Painted Bedroom Accessories
• Children's Upholstered Furniture • Baby Registry • And Much More!
1696
kr31
access. This allows them to
read the information on-screen
without having to buy an en-
tire set of encyclopedias.
On-line delivery of a specific
encyclopedia article to a com-
puter means the consumer only
pays for actual usage, plus a
monthly fee for the on-line de-
livery. "More importantly,"
notes Britannica's editor in
chief Robert McHenry, "we can
keep content up-to-date for all
users."
For the person to whom in-
depth, accurate and timely in-
formation is critical, an on-line
encyclopedia article combines
the topicality of a periodical with
the benefit of the information
having been created by the en-
cyclopedia's staff scholars.
On-line delivery is a pub-
lisher's dream, for it eliminates
many publishing constraints
including costly and time-con
sliming printing. Every editor
juggles with space problems,
judiciously weighing the value
of every article and illustration
to best use the limited number
of pages.
With on-line delivery, a
"body" of inf'orrnation can be re-
vised and manipulated for vir-
tually the cost of the research,
writing and/or illustration. This
flexibility is simply not eco-
nomically feasible for book pub-
lishers, and despite every
encyclopedia publisher's high-
ly touted "update volumes," the
rapidity at which information
pedia
such as speedy
topic search; th
of interactivity
sounds, spoken wo
— not possible in a prin ted
medium.
Currently, however, pub-
lishers have sacrificed illustra-
tions (and in some cases 3xt)
because they are so costly, in
money, creation start-up ex-
pense and disk space.
World Book, for example, de-
scribes their pictures as "teach-
ing illustrations," but the
28,000 illustrations (24,000 of
which are in color) found in
their traditional print encyclo-
pedias have been reduced to a
mere 3,000 for the CD-ROM
version. And this is a typical
drawback for all the publishers
at this time.
For detailed reviews, consult
the library reference Soft-ware
Review On File//Survey of Mi-
crocomputer Software, both the
1993 and 1994 issues.
Here is a short "tour" of the
dominant CD-ROM encyclope-
dias on the market:
Encarta
Microsoft Enc.arta, from Mi-
crosoft Corp, retailing at $82
for Windows, $95 for Macin-
tosh, is based on the 29-volume
Funk and Wagnalls New En-
cyclopedia, but it also contains
a thousand articles created es-
pecially for Encarta (and un-
available in the paper version);
ELECTRONIC page P26
194
■
g a 0
0
ST. JOHN HOSPITAL
KERCHEVAL
YOUNG CLOTHES DUNG FURNITURE
Y. UNG FURNITURE
(313) 881-7227
(313) 884-4150
17027 Kercheval-in-the-Village
Grosse Pointe
110 Kercheval-on-the-Hill
Grosse Pointe Farms
Are you a family with one Jewish Parent?
t Then...STEPPING STONES TO A JEWISH ME
is for you!
)
A 25 session educational experience open to children 5-16
years old of interfaith families whose parents desire to give them
an opportunity to learn more about their Jewish heritage.
The STEPPING STONES program starts September 25, at
Temple Israel, 5725 Walnut Lake, W. Bloomfield, MI 48322 from
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. TUITION IS FREE.
REGISTER NOW. Call (810) 354-1050 for more information.
A community project for children of unaffiliated interfaith families developed by
the Conservative and Reform Rabbis of Metropolitan Detroit with the support of
the Max Fisher Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and
administered by the Agency for Jewish Education.
A Perfect Family Gift...
A Subscription to the Jewish News.
Et 1 0-354-6620
P25