The American Presidency is a collection of articles, speeches, photographs, multimedia, and other information‐rich resources associated with the history and politics of the presidency. It is divided into three sets of articles from Grolier’s three major encyclopedias. The New Book of Knowledge (NBK) is designed for young readers. The Academic American Encyclopedia (AAE) is designed for readers of all ages who need concise and authoritative information. The Academic American Encyclopedia contains articles from the core content of the award winning Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. The third encyclopedic source is the Encyclopedia Americana (EA). It offers in depth articles for serious research. The range and the depth of the articles make this section a virtual scholarly library for anyone interested in the presidency.
This is a most complete and comprehensive collection of information pertaining to the presidency outside of the presidential libraries and major academic and research libraries. Various scandals and miscellaneous affairs such as: Iran‐Contra in the Reagan and Bush Administration, the Whitewater situation of the Clinton Administration are reported on in the Encyclopedia Americana with sufficient detail. Most of the information presented in the resource is focused information compiled for encyclopedias; therefore, one will not find collections of speeches, letters, and various primary source material.
The American Presidency has a companion web site at http://www.grolier.com/presidents/preshome.html. This site is a true mirror and continuation of the compact disc content. The web site contains a presidential links page that connects to other relevant sites on the web such as: historical homes and research libraries, political parties, and commentary and news. The “Presidential Tests of Strength” page is a true test of the user’s knowledge. On both the compact disc and the web site, a user can listen to sound bites from several presidential speeches and sort video clips of speeches given by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and Ronald Reagan. These multimedia aspects give the American Presidency product a different content than most textual products; but these technological enhancements also come with certain software requirements To use these enhancements appropriately,the computer must be adequately configured for such use.
The compact disc product requires:
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A multimedia PC or compatible with a 486 DX/33 Mhz or higher microprocessor: 8 MB of memory; double speed CD‐ROM drive (300 KB/sec or higher transfer rate); sound card; and SVGA 256‐color monitor
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Windows 95 operating system, or MS‐DOS operating System 5.0 or later with Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later
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Microsoft mouse or compatible pointing device
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Wave‐table sound card (optional)
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Speakers or headphones
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Printer (optional)
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Optional Online requirements:
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Modem (required for online features only)
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Access to the World Wide Web
The conventions for printing and saving documents to disc is like those of a typical web browser. The screens and user interface of the American Presidency are very well done. The text is formatted in easily readable sections. The colors are primarily red, blue, white and black. The majority of the informative text is presented in a black on white screen which is a helpful design for users with visual challenges. The graphics on the interfaces are well designed and easy loading. The website is not hampered by large graphics. The overall feel and design of this resources is pleasing and simple.
Grolier has also provided toll free support at 1‐800‐356‐5590 and FAX support. They have also enclosed written instructions. The web site has help pages and technical support pages. The program installs fairly easily on its own with many helpful message screens and instructional question screens.
This product has truly achieved a level of simplicity and quality. This is a must resource for school libraries. It brings so much useful information to the user so that they may concentrate more on learning.
This is also a useful resource for public libraries, college libraries and undergraduate collections at large university libraries. The price is very reasonable (somewhere in the twenty to thirty dollar range). I would recommend the American Presidency to anyone interested in a resource that can supply various levels of interest (grades 3 to college) for researching the presidents of the United States.
